Sergio Tofano Movies

This three-part social satire lampoons the church, television, big business and universities plagued by campus unrest. Riccardo (Vittorio Gassman) is a rebel who causes confusion on campus and at a television station. Part two finds industrial magnate Cavazza (Michel Simon) hounding his subordinate Franco (Nino Manfredi) when the two travel to New York. Franco abandons his boss on Fifth Avenue, where he is arrested for using a phone booth as a toilet. Cavazza gets revenge when both are back in Italy. In part three, Don Giuseppe (Alberto Sordi) is a priest who defends himself against allegations of an illicit affair with a local cashier. After an audience with the bishop, the once-quiet priest demands a car, a wife, and another flock to lead. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

I Sogni nel Cassetto was released in the U.S. as Dreams in a Drawer. The hero and heroine are students in a Northern Italian university. Though he barely knows her, the immature Mario (Enrico Pagani) proposes marriage to the equally childlike Lucia (Lea Masari). Both boy and girl are forced to grow up in a hurry when Lucia becomes pregnant. An unexpected tragedy sobers Mario to the fact that he still has a long way to go before attaining true manhood. During the preview process, I Sogni nel Cassetto was screened with two different endings, allowing audiences to make a choice. In Hollywood, it is likely that the final decision would have been very different. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Nannina (Silvana Pampanini) is planning to marry Mario (Antonio Cifariello), but the nuptials hit a snag when he's put in prison for hitting a policeman. She goes to work as a cashier in a bar owned by Oreste (Paolo Stoppa), an older man who falls in love with her. She wants to open a restaurant with him, but he severs contact with her once he realizes that she still loves Mario. Nevertheless, when Mario finally returns, Nannina is there as the proprietress of the restaurant. And she tells him that she sleeps safely at the convent until she's married! ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

An all-star cast graces this Italian "omnibus" feature. The film consists of eight short stories, each based on nostalgic literary efforts. Linking the various stories is bookseller Aldo Fabrizi, who passes the time by reading the works dramatized herein. In "The Excelsior Ball," dancer Alba Arnova arouses the libido of several observers. In "Less Than a Day," a three-hour train delay wreaks havoc on the romance between Arnova and Andrea Checchi. In "Sardinian Drummer Boy," the title character (Enzo Cerusico) becomes an unexpected hero on the battlefield. In "Matter of Interest," two farmers (Arnoldo Foa and Folco Lulli) quarrel over a compost pile. In "The Idyll," two very young people (Maurizio Di Nardo and Geraldina Pariniello) fall in love. "Potpourri of Songs" delivers on its title through the musical versatility of Barbara Florian and Elio Pandolfi. "The Trial of Frine" finds accused murderess Gina Lollobrigida being defended by colorful lawyer Vittorio De Sica. And in "The Trap," an accusatory husband (Amedeo Nazzari) drives his far-from-innocent wife (Elis Cegani) into an act of extreme desperation. Also known as In Olden Days, Altri Tempi was distributed worldwide by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When time came to adapt Aldo De Benedetti's novel Eravamo Sette Sorelle for the screen, De Benedetti undertook the job himself. The title, which translates as We Were Seven Sisters, refers to a septet of chorus girls. United only by their common job and their love for the finer things in love, the seven heroines look around for a wealthy "father." Choosing aristocrat roue Antonio Gandusio as their patsy, each girl arrives separately at Gandusio's doorstep, claiming to be the offspring of one of his previous mistresses. The plot wraps up in conventional fashion when the old man's son falls in love with the most sensible (and likeable) of the girls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi