Anna Maria Pier Angeli Movies
Discovered as a teenager by Russian director Leonide Moguy, Sardinian-born actress Pier Angeli made her film bow in 1949's Tomorrow is Too Late. The waif-like actress was signed by MGM in 1951, where she was seen in such films as Teresa (1951) and Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). For several years, MGM made public announcements that Pier would star in a film adaptation of W.H. Hudson's mystical novel Green Mansions; the studio went to the extreme of sending out photographs of Ms. Angeli dressed as the novel's Rima the Bird Girl. But when time came to film Green Mansions in 1959 Pier had long since left the MGM fold, and the role went to Audrey Hepburn. Pier was briefly married to singer Vic Damone. She died of a barbiturate overdose at the age of 39. Pier Angeli was the twin sister of actress Marisa Pavan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1951
Leonid Moguy's Domani e un Altro Giorno (Tomorrow is Another Day) was an unofficial follow-up to his 1950 effort Domani e Troppo Tardi (Tomorrow is Too Late). Both films were "thesis" pictures, but whereas the first film dealt with sex education, the second tackles the even more delicate subject of suicide. Three different stories are offered with the film's framework, each probing into the reasons that a person would take his or her own life. In the first, a young girl is seduced and then tormented by an older man. In the second, an old woman's dog is poisoned by nasty neighbors. And in the third, a young socialite, denied genuine affection by parents, begins looking for love in all the wrong places. Only one of the three episodes ends happily, but it wouldn't be fair to reveal which one. At the bottom of the cast list is Rosanna Podesta, who'd achieve international fame in the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Ferrero
- 1951
In Teresa, director Fred Zinnemann adopts the same quasi-documentary approach he'd used in The Search (1948). Lensed on location in Italy and New York, the film introduces Pier Angeli in the title role, and co-stars three male newcomers: John Ericson, Ralph Meeker and Rod Steiger. Teresa is the Italian bride of GI Philip (Ericson), who is established from the outset as mentally disturbed. Taking Teresa home with him to New York, Philip begins to crack under the pressure of married life -- not to mention the angst brought to bear by his highly dysfunctional family. A happy ending doesn't seem likely under these circumstances, but there's always hope. The best scene in Teresa occurs during an fateful visit to Coney Island. Featured in the cast is political cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who'd subsequently co-star in John Huston's Red Badge of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, John Ericson, (more)
- 1949
Domani e Troppo Tardi is the first of two Leonide Moguy films dealing with the travails of postwar Italian life; the second was Domani e un altro Giorno. The story concerns the efforts to provide a proper sex education for youngsters. Progressive schoolteachers Landi (Vittorio de Sica) and Anna (Lois Maxwell) have a profound influence on two of their young students, Mirella (Anna Maria Pierangeli) and Franco (Gino Leuri). The two kids are enamored of one another, and decide to experiment with some of the knowledge they've gleaned in the classroom...with devastating results. Eighteen-year-old Anna Maria Pierangeli, who makes her film debut in Domani e Troppo Tardi and also appeared in Domani e un altro Giorno, later changed her professional name to Pier Angeli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Lois Maxwell, (more)
In this gangster film, set in Chicago during the 1930s, a tough-guy employs murder and blackmail to take-over the local syndicate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
