Miriam Bru Movies
- 1958
This clever melodrama from director Renato Castellani stars Anna Magnani as a hardbitten prostitute whose immorality rubs off on a naive woman (Giulietta Masina) in a women's prison. Taking the innocent Masina under her wing, Magnani corrupts her, but is secretly touched by her kind heart. On Magnani's advice, Masina makes a bargain with Adonis (Alberto Sordi), who framed her for burglary, promising silence in exchange for part of the loot. She is acquitted, but Magnani's lessons have changed Masina's life for the worse, and she returns to prison as a garishly sleazy hooker. Magnani is horrified, having gone through some psychological changes in the opposite direction herself. Renato Salvatori, Cristina Gajoni, and Milly Monti also appear in this entertaining Italian/French potboiler adapted by Castellani and Suso Cecchi D'Amico from Isa Mari's 1953 novel Roma, Via delle Mantellate. Several versions exist, running 110, 98, and 85 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Giulietta Masina, (more)
- 1955
Told in pageantlike fashion, Casa Ricordi is the story of the Ricordi family, the most prestigious music publishers in all Italy. It was the Ricordis who, for better or worse, came up with the "royalty" concept, paying artists (and their families) for their work in perpetuity. As the family's fortune grows, the Ricordis rub shoulders with the musical glitterati of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini and Rossini. Naturally, this allows the film to showcase some of these composers' most famous works--and in true Hollywood-by-the-Mediterranean fashion, the principal influence for these compositions are the various members of the Ricordi family. The soundtrack of Casa Ricordi reverberates with the voices of such musical immortals as Tito Gobbi, Renata Tibaldi, Mario Del Monaco and Gianni Poggi, among many others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Bru, Elisa Cegani, (more)
