Moris Ergas Movies
A native of Greece, Moris Ergas was a prominent film producer in Italy during the '50s and '60s. He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, but left as a young man to study in Belgrade. He was imprisoned in Italy's Ferramonti Tarsia concentration camp for Jews during WW II. His best-known films included Roberto Rossellini's General Della Rovere (1959), Gillo Pontecorvo's Kapo (1960) and Alberto Lattuada's The Steppe (1963). During the late '50s and early '60s, Lattuada and his tempestuous affair with actress Sandra Milo provided tabloid readers with hours of entertainment. In the late '70s, Ergas retired from cinema and entered the construction industry until 1990 when he began producing and distributing Czech films. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1963
In this drama, a single woman approaching 40 grows bored of her affair with a married trucker and writes to a singles column. She ends up paired with an outwardly conservative bookstore clerk. During their date, he drinks and soon turns into a rude, crude, drunken slob. She is mortified until he apologizes. She forgives him and they have sex. In the morning they resume their former lives. Perhaps they will meet again. Perhaps not. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milo, François Perier, (more)
- 1962
Based on a Anton Chekhov short story, this slight tale has some good moments as the drama of a young boy's journey unfolds. The lad comes from peasant stock, and one day his family decides it would be best for him to go live with his uncle in the city. The only problem is that the city is all the way across the Russian steppes, and at this time in history, that arduous journey could only be undertaken by horse and carriage. Reminiscent of the American pioneer wagon trains heading West, the tale lacks any attacks from hostile forces but is filled with charming vignettes. In one part of the journey, the boy comes across some fishermen along a river, harpooning their catch for the day. In another segment, he is entertained when some folk dancers do a lively show. But in general, it is too long and unmomentous a journey to hold attention well for nearly two hours. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Vanel, Marina Vlady, (more)
- 1961
Robert Rossellini's Vanina Vanini was released in many US markets as The Betrayer. Based on a Stendhal novel, the film is set in Italy during the turbulent years of the mid-19th century. Princess Vanini (Sandra Milo) confronts a strange looking woman in her palace. The woman turns out to be a man (Laurent Terzieff), an Italian revolutionary on the run from government troops. Princess and rebel fall in love, but when he leaves her for another, she jealously turns him over to the authorities. She offers to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment, but he savagely rebuffs her. After his execution, Vanini retreats to a monastery, where she ends her days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milo, Laurent Terzieff, (more)
Four unemployed prostitutes attempt to open a restaurant in this comedy. They look all over Rome for a restaurant they can afford. When they find a ramshackle cafe. The landlord is willing to let them have it; they can even use his name to buy the food license, but he has one condition: they must also run a little cathouse upstairs. Their restaurant becomes quite successful, but when their personal lives intervene, the business threatens to fold. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Gina Rovere, (more)
With a deft guiding hand, director Roberto Rossellini brings out the depths in this study of a man's transformation during the German occupation of Milan. Based on a novel by Indro Montanelli, the story is true. Colonel Mueller (Hannes Messemer) and his cohorts have decided to plant a spy in the Milan prison. They choose a petty thief from the streets who earns his living plying the black-market trade and assign him to the task. He is thrown in jail under the false identity of General della Rovere (Vittorio De Sica) in order to bring the Italian resistance fighters among the prisoners, out into the open. As the fake general slowly makes friends with these men, he becomes a leader of sorts, and this transformation gets him thinking in a different way about himself. This well-wrought drama was given the "Best Foreign Film" award in 1960 by the New York Film Critics, and it won the Golden Lion at the 1959 Venice Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Hannes Messemer, (more)
The French/Italian/Yugoslav concentration camp drama Kapo stars Susan Strasberg, who several years earlier had originated the title role in the Broadway production The Diary of Anne Frank. Here, Ms. Strasberg is once again a European Jewish teenager victimized by the Nazis. Interred in a concentration camp, Strasberg is befriended by the camp's kindly doctor, who helps her hide her true identity and work as a camp guard, or "kapo." Unfortunately, Strasberg's new found power goes to her head, and her abuse of that power is very nearly on the same level as the Nazis. Brought down to earth by the death of a close friend, Strasberg spearheads an escape attempt, sacrificing her own life in the process. Nominated for a best foreign picture Oscar in 1960, Kapo nonetheless did not find an American distributor until 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Didi Perego, Gianni Garko, (more)
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