Antonio Cifariello Movies
- 1965
The "doll"in this Italian seriocomedy is played by Virna Lisi. Craving attention, Virna claims that she has been robbed and assaulted. Thanks to this artifice, she becomes a celebrity, and then a high-priced model. Her chickens come home to roost when three innocent men are arrested and charged for the non-existent robbery and rape. Virna is all for keeping her mouth shut, but her resolve is weakened by Haya Harareet, the wife of one of the accused. Doll That Took the Town was originally released as La Donna Del Giorno. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Dauntless resistance member Maria (Elzbieta Czyzweska) finds her life unexpectedly complicated when an Italian deserter invites himself into the apartment she shares with her artist brother (Zbigniew Cybulski) in this comedy set in Nazi-occupied Poland. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Based on Jules Verne's novel Captain Grant's Children, In Search of the Castaways is a roller-coaster of a Disney film, making up in excitement what it lacks in credibility or coherence. Hayley Mills and Keith Hamshere play the children of long-missing ship's captain Jack Gwillim. By chance, a note stuffed in a bottle comes to the attention of the kids and professor Maurice Chevalier; the note contains the fragment of a map, which suggests that Gwillim is somewhere in South America. Only after enduring a series of life-threatening adventures do Chevalier and the kids discover that they should have been in Australia all along! Once they're finally in the correct corner of the world, our protagonists are bedeviled by gunrunner George Sanders, the fellow who'd set the captain adrift. With the help of Wilfrid Brambell, a looney ex-crew member of the captain's (and the fellow who sent the bottled message), Chevalier, Mills and Hamshere are finally reunited with Gwillim--and as a bonus, Mills has found a boy friend, in the person of Michael Anderson. It's typical of the crazy-quilt approach taken by In Search of the Castaways that Maurice Chevalier decides to sing a cheery song in a moment of dire peril. Even so, the film was ideal Saturday-matinee fodder for the kiddie trade in 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Hayley Mills, (more)
- 1962
Based on Flora Sandstrom's novel The Midwife of Pont Clery, this lightweight sexual farce involves the effect that Jessica (Angie Dickinson), a voluptuous midwife, has on the small Sicilian town in which she currently resides. Jessica is an American whose intentions may be charitable but whose physical attractions raise the libido of the men in town. Potential moms decide it is better to forego pregnancy by foregoing sex (this is a Catholic town) rather than have Jessica show up to deliver a baby. Meanwhile, the town priest (Maurice Chevalier), in his wisdom, directs Jessica's attention to the handsome widowed Marquis who lives in a charming castle, all alone -- anything to bring normal marital relations back on track. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angie Dickinson, Maurice Chevalier, (more)
- 1962
In this western, an outlaw ring leader falls in love with a Spanish princess and prays that his predecessor will remain in prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
This uninspired, Argentinian-Italian version of an American Western features a rancher and landowner who makes a mistake common to all regions and times -- he marries the wrong woman, blinded by what passes for love. She is a showgirl and he brings her home as his wife after a long trip, much to the shock of his mistress. But he is in for a crash course in reality when his wife decides that one of her husband's more untamed, loud friends is irresistible. Once he discovers the truth, there are not many choices as to what he should do about it, being a macho rancher with a wounded ego in tow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Cifariello, Dominique Wilms, (more)
- 1959
In a series of comedic episodes, wildly disparate individuals pass through the French Riviera and live out their dramas and traumas in this uneven but happy farce by director Vittorio Sala. Of all the sketches, that of top Italian comic Alberto Sordi as a fruit vendor going with his wife for a film shoot on location on the Riviera is the most notable. After the wife is deleted from the cast, the vendor mistakes the director's interest in him as a play for his acting talents. His wife eventually wises him up that his thespian abilities are not the attraction here, and so another career in film bites the dust. The rest of the skits, including an over-the-top jealous husband who is having a hard time on his honeymoon, are amusing enough to keep an audience entertained. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elsa Martinelli, Rita Gam, (more)
- 1959
It Happened in Rome -- as well as in Venice, Florence, and points in between in this frothy excursion into beautiful Italy. The slight story concerns two young girls -- the German Hilde (Inge Schoener) and the French Josette (Isabelle Corey) -- who are hitching through the countryside. Vacationing Britisher Margaret (June Laverick) has pity on them and gives them a lift. Unfortunately, Margaret has not been paying attention to her gas gauge, and the three end up trying to push the vehicle to a gas station. In the process, they lose hold of the car at a crucial moment and it rolls into the sea. With her means of transportation ruined, Margaret joins Hilde and Josette as a hitchhiker. Along the way, each of them encounters their fair share of amorous Latin lovers before finding true love. Interestingly, the writers of this glossy romance include the anarcho-communist Dario Fo, as well as Furio Scarpelli and Age (who both collaborated on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Elsa Martinelli plays a resident of a seaside village who falls in love with rootless stranger Antonio Ciffariello. The stranger soon learns that he'll have to fight over Elsa's affections with hotheaded villager Luis Pena. Meanwhile, a fisherman who illegally uses dynamite nearly causes tragedy to the entire community. How these two plot strands are woven together is the dramatic crux of the film's final reel. Despite its melodramatic trappings, La Mina (The Mine) unfolds in a leisurely, unforced fashion. The worldwide popularity of Elsa Martinelli enabled the film to attain good bookings outside of Spain and Italy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elsa Martinelli, Antonio Cifariello, (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
- 1957
In this Italian romantic comedy set in the town of Sorrento, on the beautiful Bay of Naples, a woman rents a home from a dashing womanizer. Unfortunately, after 30 years away, the man returns to become the town police chief and wants to reclaim his home. The woman refuses to leave. The man then attempts to use his many charms. The ploy works and the woman agrees to dump her fiancé and marry him instead. When the womanizer realizes what she is about to do, he jilts her instead and decides to woo his own landlady instead. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The superb cinematography of Aldo Tonti adds immeasureably to the enjoyment of Souvenir D'Italie. The story revolves around three lovely young ladies: Margaret (June Laverick) from England, Hilde (Ingeborg Schoener) from Germany and Josette (Isabelle Corey) from France. Hitchhiking through Northern Italy, our three heroines enjoy numerous picaresque adventures. Some of the best scenes involve Alberto Sordi as a self-styled gigolo whose charms fail to impress the trio of lovelies. Likewise amusing is Vittorio de Sica in an extended cameo role. An English-language version of Souvenir D'Italie was prepared simultaneously by British producer J. Arthur Rank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Laverick, Inge Schoener, (more)
- 1957
The title of this Italian slice-of-life drama translates to Young Husbands. The husbands in question rather casually enter into marriage, never intending true fidelity to their spouses. When they realize that they're committed for life, our immature heroes return to their home town for one last fling. In the course of their final hours of bachelorhood, they come to the sobering conclusion that their carefree youth is not only past, it's already long past. Somewhat reminiscent of Fellini's I Vitelloni, Giovani Mariti boasts excellent performances from all concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylva Koscina, Antonella Lualdi, (more)
- 1956
The third entry in the Italian "Bread, Love and. . ." series, Pane, Amore e. . . was directed by Dino Risi, taking over from the auteur of the first two films, Luigi Comencini. Likewise, Sophia Loren substitutes for Gina Lollobrigida, the female star of the earlier films; only Vittorio De Sica returns for the third time. De Sica plays a retired village marshal who returns to his home town of Sorrento, where much against his will he is appointed chief of police. His first job is to evict Sophia Loren, the sexy fish peddler who has been living in his old apartment. By and by, De Sica falls in love with Loren, never realizing (at least until the last reel) that landlady Lea Padovani is the "right" girl for him. In America, Pane, Amore E. . . was released as Scandal in Sorrento. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, (more)
- 1956
Directed by the incredibly prolific Mario Camerini, Suor Letizia was released in English-speaking regions as When Angels Don't Fly and The Awakening. In her first film appearance since The Rose Tattoo, Anna Magnani plays a feisty nun named Sister Letizia. Believing herself above such earthly trivialities as a maternal instinct, Sr. Letizia changes her way of thinking when an abandoned child is placed in her care. Unofficially adopting the boy, the good sister eventually comes to realize that even she cannot provide the care and guidance of a biological mother. Carefully constructed to accommodate all the surefire box-office elements inherent in Camerini's earlier films, Suor Letizia was almost guaranteed to be a hit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Eleonora Rossi-Drago, (more)
- 1955
A novel by Valerio Zurlini was the basis of the Italian Le Ragazze di Sanfrediano (The Girls of San Frediano). The story deals with the amorous escapades of handsome garage mechanic Bob (Antonio Cifariello). The first name in Bob's little black book is the tempestuous Tosca (Rosanna Podesta, who that same year played the title role in Helen of Troy). Before long, our hero throws Tosca over for a chorus dancer (Giulia Robini), a schoolteacher (Luciana Liberati) and a dress designer (Corinne Calvet). Through it all, Gina (Marcella Miriani), a girl who lives in Bob's apartment building, silently carries a torch for the grease-monkey Lothario. Just guess who Bob eventually winds up with. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Cifariello, Rossana Podestà, (more)
- 1955
Nannina (Silvana Pampanini) is planning to marry Mario (Antonio Cifariello), but the nuptials hit a snag when he's put in prison for hitting a policeman. She goes to work as a cashier in a bar owned by Oreste (Paolo Stoppa), an older man who falls in love with her. She wants to open a restaurant with him, but he severs contact with her once he realizes that she still loves Mario. Nevertheless, when Mario finally returns, Nannina is there as the proprietress of the restaurant. And she tells him that she sleeps safely at the convent until she's married! ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Alberto Sordi, (more)
- 1953
Seven top Italian filmmakers pooled their talents on the omnibus "reality" feature Amore in Citta (Love in the City). The film is divided into six separate episodes; the first of these, "Paid Love", is a straightforward study of prosititution written and directed by Carlo Lizzani. In the second, Michelangelo Antonioni's "Attempted Suicide", several would-be suicides discuss the reasons for their despair. Dino Risi's "Paradise for Four Hours" is a humorous glance at a provincial dance hall. Federico Fellini's "Marriage Agency" finds an investigative reporter posing as a husband-to-be. Cesara Zavattini and Umberto Maselli's "Story of Caterina" dramatizes the true story of a young unwed mother. And "Italians Stare", written and directed by Alberto Lattuada, illustrates the various "girl-watching" techniques of Italian males. Among the actors particpating in the six vignettes are Ugo Tognazzi, Maressa Gallo, and Caterina Riogoglioso. Originally intended as the first installment in a "movie magazine" titled "The Spectator", Amore in Citta was released at 110 minutes; most American prints are bereft of the opening "Paid Love" segment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
