Giorgio Pastina Movies

Umberto Spadaro is the Chaplinesque hero of this Italian seriocomedy. Spadaro plays a humble Sicilian accountant who receives a large cash reward for his scrupulous honesty. Determined to have the first good time in his life, the accountant takes a vacation from his troublesome family. On his own, however, our hero falls prey to a lady con artist, who leaves him penniless. Seeking solace in religion, he joins a pilgrimage to the Vatican, but even this is an uncomfortable experience (literally, since his shoes don't fit). After a few more such misfortunes, the audience is tempted to yell back at the screen, "Aw - give the guy a break." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alida Valli delivers one of her finest performances in the Italian Ultimo Incontro. Based on La Biondina, a 19th-century suspense novel by Marco Praga, the script has been updated to the Milan of 1951. Valli plays Lina, the faithless wife of wealthy Piero (Amadeo Nazzari). After entering into an affair with race-car driver Michele (Jean Pierre Aumont), Lina is blackmailed into selling her sexual services to others. Eventually, she is hired to satisfy the desires of -- guess who? The operatic denouement seems less hokey than it is, thanks to the combined skills of star Alida Valli and director Gianni Franciolini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ho Sognato il Paradiso is adapted from a play by Guido Cantini. Geraldine Brooks, an American actress who was living and working in Italy in 1950, stars as a "fallen woman" who'd like to get back up again. Her one opportunity to escape her tawdry lifestyle arrives in the form of a handsome young attorney, played by Vittorio Gassman. Hiding her past from the attorney, the girl enjoys a few blissful months. But when he discovers that she's been a purveyor of the World's Oldest Profession, the results are calamitous. Despite the name value of Geraldine Brooks, Ho Sognato il Paradiso ran into serious censorship problems when it was distributed in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For some reason, Italians have always been fascinated with the legend of Swiss patriot William Tell. In the tradition of the larger-than-life Rossini opera, director Giorgio Pastina offers a colorful version of Schiller's famous stage play. Matinee idol Gino Cervi plays Tell, occasionally taking a back seat to romantic leads Rudens (Aldo Nicodemi) and Berta (Monique Oroan). The plum role of the villainous Gessler goes to Teutonic actor Paul Muller. The Italian Alps prove an impressive backdrop for the story, which of course culminates in the "apple bit." Throughout the film, Rossini's music underscores the action (and yes, it is difficult not to conjure up visions of the Lone Ranger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Scorned Flesh first saw the light of day in Italy under the title Statua Vivente. Fosco Giachetti plays a sailor who intends to break a few female hearts while on leave. Putting the make on shy young Laura Solari, Giachetti at first regards the girl as yet another conquest. Imagine his surprise when he realizes he's actually fallen in love with her! On the eve of their wedding, Solari is killed, sending the grief-stricken Giachetti off on a bender. While drowning his sorrows in a seedy dive, he meets a hard-bitten woman who happens to be the exact double of his lost love (and who happens to also be played by Laura Solari). In Vertigo fashion, Giachetti tries to make his new girlfriend over in the image of his deceased fiance -- and like Vertigo, his efforts are doomed to tragic failure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This first of two film versions of Luigi Pirandello's stage play Enrico IV downplays Pirandello's patented absurdism in favor of a comparatively straightforward narrative. The title character is not the 11th-century German king of the same name, but a looney modern-day nobleman who only thinks that he's Henry IV. Out of loyalty to their master, the nobleman's servants go along with the gag, dressing up in old costumes and impersonating famous historical personalities. The ersatz "king" continues lapsing in and out of sanity for nearly 20 years, by which time nobody is certain who he really is. Osvaldo Valenti delivers an astonishing performance as Henry IV; by film's end, even the audience will be convinced that he is who he says he is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide