Eduardo de Filippo Movies

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

Also known as Three-Cornered Hat, this Italian comedy is based on a Spanish folk tale, which had previously been adapted as a ballet by Manuel de Filla. Director Mario Camerini and his team of screenwriters have refashioned the material as a vehicle for the popular De Filipo brothers, Peppino and Eduardo. The story is a mistaken-identity affair, predicated on the fact that a pompous governor is the exact look-alike of a poor miller. Much of the fun is derived from the efforts to pass off the miller's homely wife as the governor's gorgeous spouse. Described by one Mario Camerini devotee as "pretty, noisy and accomplished," 'Il Cappell a Tre Punte= was filmed in 1934, and released in the U.S. two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide