Franco Fabrizi Movies
Franco Fabrizi was in his very early twenties when he began his career on the Italian variety stage. In films from 1952, he was frequently seen in the works of Federico Fellini, most notably as small town roué Fausto in I Vitteloni (1953) and small-time crook Roberto in Il Bidone (1955). In later years, his youthful rakishness mellowed into a jaded world weariness, both offscreen and on. Franco Fabrizi made his last screen appearance in 1988, seven years before his death in his home town of Cortemaggiore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1957
Roger Vadim's second directorial project was Sait-On Jamais, which was released in English-speaking countries as Does One Ever Know and No Sun in Venice. Set in Italy, this romantic suspenser is inventively paced to the musical improvisations of the Modern Jazz Quartet. On a Venetian holiday, a French journalist (Christian Marquand) meets and subsequently beds a mysterious beauty (Francoise Arnoul). Before long, the journalist is mixed up with the woman's ex-lover, a neurotic hoodlum (Robert Hossein) in the employ of a depraved Austrian baron (O.E. Hasse). Greed rears its ugly head when the hood bumps off the baron while searching for the latter's hidden millions. It all ends in a thrilling rooftop chase at the baron's palatial estate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Arnoul, Christian Marquand, (more)
- 1956
Racconti Romani (Roman Tales) is a fast-paced comedy based on the short stories of Alberto Moravia. Tying the various narratives together is a gang of young Romans who'll do anything to line their pockets with money. Unfortunately, most of their schemes are at odds with the Law, and most culminate with the schemers losing what little cash they already have. Still, the young protagonists don't learn their lesson until they become mixed up with a counterfeiting ring. The well-chosen cast includes Franco Fabrizi as the gang's leader, Silvana Pampanini as his ever-patient wife, and Vittorio de Sica and Toto in cameo roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini
- 1956
The Spanish/Italian Rocket From Calabuch is significant only as the last film of beloved character actor Edmund Gwenn. The 78-year-old star plays a retired atomic scientist who settles in a peaceful Spanish village. But he can't remain sedentary for long, and soon he's off and about developing a new kind of rocket. So much for his retirement, and so much for the peace and quiet in his village, which is soon overrun with reporters and spies. Rocket From Calabuch was originally released in Spain as simply Calabuch; the film didn't make it to the states until after Edmund Gwenn's death in 1959. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Gwenn
Swindle and The Swindlers are both English-language titles for 1955's Il Bidone, a lesser-known effort from Federico Fellini. Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, and Franco Fabrizi play a trio of con artists who victimize the Italian bourgeoisie (who are shown to be no better than the crooks). Giueletta Masina (Fellini's wife), who had previously costarred with Richard Basehart in La Strada, here plays Basehart's wife. Humphrey Bogart had been intended for the role played by Broderick Crawford; one wonders how Crawford's self-deprecating curtain speech about the hollowness of his existence would have played in Bogart's hands. Swindle was not released to the US until nine years after its completion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, (more)
Roman couturier Clelia (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) leaves the big city to work at a boutique in Turin. She moves into a hotel and makes several new friends, but is soon drawn into their extremely unpleasant lives. Clelia enters a doomed relationship with a poor architect's assistant (Ettore Manni), sees her new best friend Rosetta (Madeleine Fischer) commit suicide after being jilted by her married lover (Gabriele Ferzetti), and is eventually fired from her new job when her hysteria over Rosetta's death interferes with her work. Clelia finally goes back to Rome, and viewers will not blame her a bit. Le Amiche, based on a 1949 article published in La Bella Estate ("Tre Donne Sole" by Cesare Pavese), is perhaps Michelangelo Antonioni's first great film. Juggling 10 characters with great aplomb, Antonioni and co-screenwriters Suso Cecchi D'Amico and Alba De Cespedes have created a rich, interlocking narrative which manages to rise above mere melodrama through careful attention to the ebb and flow of interpersonal relationships and a keen sense of balance. The fine supporting cast includes Valentina Cortese, Yvonne Furneaux, and Franco Fabrizi. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentina Cortese, Gabriele Ferzetti, (more)
- 1955
Despite their questionable behavior during WWII, the Italians were generally cast in a sympathetic light in war films of the 1950s. In Siluri Umani (Human Torpedoes), Raf Vallone stars as a member of an elite Italian navy unit. Their mission: to attack a British convoy in motorboats armed with explosive warheads. The only way by which these courageous guerillas can avoid being blown up themselves is to jump from their boats at the last minute. It goes without saying the some don't make it. Siluri Umani is based on an actually military maneuver which occurred in March of 1941. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raf Vallone, Franco Fabrizi, (more)
- 1954
La Romana (Women of Rome) is a worthwhile early starring vehicle for Gina Lollobrigida. "La Lollo" plays a young woman who is strong-armed into a modelling career by her ambitious mother. Before long, she discovers that there's a lot more money to be had if she sells her body rather than merely putting it on display. Of the many men in her life, Lollobrigida truly loves only one, but doesn't realize this until it's too late. American prints of La Romana were heavily trimmed to avoid the steamier passages, but Lollobrigida's star quality comes through loud and clear. The film was adapted by director Luigi Zampa from a novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Daniel Gélin, (more)
Italian maestro Federico Fellini's first international success is a nakedly autobiographical film that bears many of the formal and thematic concerns that recur throughout his work. Set in the director's hometown of Rimini, I Vitelloni follows the lives of five young vitelloni, or layabouts, who while away their listless days in their small seaside village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the leader of the pack, marries his sweetheart, but finds himself constantly distracted by other women. Meanwhile, would-be playwright Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) continues work on his dreary plays, dreaming of staging them one day. Clownish Alberto (Alberto Sordi) still lives at home with his mother and sister, Olga (Claude Farell), while boasting of preserving the family honor by watching over her. While the movie seems to pay little attention to Riccardo (Riccardo Fellini) and Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi), the latter eventually emerges as its key character, plainly serving as Fellini's alter ego. Stuck in adolescence, the five friends stumble into various misadventures, as they seek to spice up their uneventful provincial lives. Ultimately, one of them breaks free from their self-imposed paralysis and moves on, leading to one of the most poignant farewell sequences in film history. A hit in Italy upon its release, I Vitelloni secured Fellini's reputation as an up-and-coming talent, while also introducing its title into Italian vernacular. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Franco Interlenghi, (more)
Il Sacco di Roma (The Sack of Rome) delivers what its title promises. The film is set in 1527, the year of the Spanish invasion of Rome. Before the story gets down to business -- e.g. the sacking and humiliation of the Eternal City -- the plot concentrates on the rivalry between two noble families. The son of one family falls in love with the daughter of the other, but the results are less tragic than in Romeo and Juliet. Somehow, the film finds time for a comic interlude involving amorous sculptor Benevenuto Cellini. Anna Maria Bugliari, Miss Italy of 1953, is arbitrarily inserted into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Cressoy, Helene Remy, (more)
