Umberto D'Orsi Movies

In a series of different stories, Fantozzi (Paolo Villaggio) is a stoical low-level office worker. He is beset by a world of difficulties which, despite his best efforts, he never overcomes. Villagio enacts these episodes, based on stories from his own book, in a manner which many compared to Buster Keaton. Given a low-budget production, this film was nonetheless extremely popular in its native Italy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Before the Allied invasion of North Africa in World War II, there was still plenty of confusion, and wartime national alliances often conflicted with personal friendships. Valentin (Michel Piccoli), a French black marketer, rescues Basil (Michael York), an English fighter pilot, off the coast of Italian-occupied Libya. The pilot is discovered by the police when Valentin leaves him with friends in order to visit with his Italian girlfriend. As a result, both Valentin and Basil are held in custody. They escape together and flee to the (neutral) Swiss Embassy, where they get help in the form of a car driven by the ambassador's wife. This French-language wartime comedy recounts their adventures on the journey out of Libya. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When Maria Mancuso dies suddenly before the expiration of her life-insurance policy, the insurance company sends lawyer Nanni Brà (Philippe Leroy) to investigate. He seduces Cinzia (Paola Pitagora), one of the late woman's daughters, in order to obtain more information. When he falls in love with the girl, he confesses to her his original intentions and she tries to take her own life. Nanni discovers that Maria Mancuso was murdered; Cinzia admits to the crime, then crashes the car with herself and Nanni into a truck, killing them both. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Released in Europe as Histoires Extraordinaires and Tre Passi Nel Delirio, this is a portmanteau picture, comprised of three supernatural playlets based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Metzengerstein," directed by Roger Vadim, stars the director's then-wife Jane Fonda as a medieval woman prone to acts of vengeance. Her brother Peter Fonda is somewhat perversely cast as her cousin, for whom she holds incestuous yearnings. When he gives her the cold shoulder, she spitefully sets fire to his stable of horses. He is himself killed in the blaze, but it seems that he has been reincarnated as a horse. In "William Wilson," directed by Louis Malle, a sadistic Austrian officer (Alain Delon) commits various S&M misdeeds upon a variety of victims, including a woman (Brigitte Bardot) with whom he plays cards. The officer himself comes to grief when he finds that the Church will not allow him to say an act of contrition. And "Never Bet Your Head," directed by Federico Fellini, updates the Poe original by casting Terence Stamp as a self-indulgent movie star. Driving drunk one evening, the actor literally bets his head that he can escape a potentially fatal accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Composed by five different screenwriters, this Italian/French comedy stars the talented and ubiquitous Vittorio Gassman as an army officer who has a difficult time believing an attractive woman is in fact a woman. Michele Mercier plays a performer who is taking the place of a female impersonator so that he may defect. When Gassman visits the show on a weekend furlough, he sees her performance and, even though there seems plenty of proof, he refuses to buy her explanation. Also woven into the plot are several loosely relevant stories about others staying at the same resort on the Riviera. Sandra Milo, Umberto D'Orsi, Graziella Granata and Philipe Leroy are among the actors also appearing in this feature. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Vittorio Gassman stars as different characters in each of the nine episodes of this unusual Italian comedy. Playing everything from a practical joker to a prisoner, he comments upon romance, love and women in general, as referred to by the title. Prior to this feature, Gassman had worked with both screenwriter Ruggero Maccari and Ettore Scola (who also co-wrote rather than directed) in the 1962 feature Il Sorpasso from director Dino Risi. It was Risi and Maccari's teamwork which helped Gassman win a "Best Actor" award at Cannes Film Festival in 1974 for Profumo di Donna/Scent of a Woman. Gassman would later work with Maccari and Ettore again in episodic fashion with Signore e Signori Buonanotte/Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976) and yet again in the drama Famiglia (1987). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Catherine Spaak was only eighteen, yet already known, when she co-starred in this comedy-drama with Nino Manfredi. She plays naive young woman Dora, who heads for the big city and a lot of growing up. Her exploits are mainly centered on the men she meets as she flits from one to the next without a great deal of worry or regret. She does have one on-again, off-again steady relationship with Nino (Manfredi) and spends some time with a middle-aged couple, Scipio and Amneris. All told, her relationships and experiences, especially her last romantic encounter which is not at all the best, contribute to her coming-of-age.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide