Alberto Farnese Movies
- 1969
This romantic comedy finds a married couple taking a honeymoon after seven years of marriage. Hannelore (Liselotte Pulver) and her husband Lukas (Dieter Hallervordern) start off for Rome in their Volkswagon but run out of gas. An opportunistic local offers to help them and then helps himself to Lucas' money. While Lukas goes after the thief, Hannelore is enamored with an Italian playboy (Alberto Farnese). She quickly succumbs to the advances of the Lothario. Her husband gets back the money and takes pity on the thief, a father of 12 whose wife is soon expecting the 13th. Lukas refuses to press charges and Hannelore returns to Lukas after her affair with her Italian lover. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liselotte Pulver, Dieter Hallervorden, (more)
- 1966
In this spaghetti western, an undercover gunslinger accidently gets caught in a feud between two families. One of them forces him into a showdown and he kills him. He then must escape from the wrathful family. He is assisted by an old man, who helps him slaughter the rest of the clan. In the end, he takes off with a daughter from the other family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this Italian swashbuckler ruthless pirates threaten the rule of the Doge of Venice. Fortunately, his brave son puts on a mask, calls himself "The Lion of St. Mark," and rallies together a regiment of mercenaries to stop them. After a few skirmishes with the pirates, the Lion finds himself falling in love for a female pirate. When his mercenaries capture her, he must save her. The grateful woman offers her thanks, but refuses to give up on her pirates. When she learns the Lion's real identity, she rethinks her position. Meanwhile the pirates are vanquished, and the hero's uncle adopts the pirate woman so that she and his nephew may continue their courtship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this island adventure, British explorers attempt to take over the island of a courageous native prince who manages to wrest control of his people away from the ruthless invaders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this sword and sandal epic, a slave saves an enslaved princess from Roman invaders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This low-budget 16th century set epic follows the exploits of the conqueror Suleiman the Magnificent, the leader of the Ottoman Empire who tried to over take Europe. In this film, his target is the town of Szigetvar, a heavily fortified Christian outpost. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Set in medieval Venice, this swashbuckler chronicles the courage of an executioner and his godson as they attempt to show that the Grand Inquisitor is in league with murderous pirates. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Skimming the surface of characterization, this romance-tragedy by François Villiers is based on a novel by Jean-Jacques Gautier and concerns the relationship between Laurent (Jean-Claude Brialy), a painter, and Renée (Michele Morgan) and her daughter Daniele (Catherine Spaak). Just when Renée and Laurent are ready to make their love affair official, Renée's daughter shows up and there are immediate sparks of attraction that fly between her and the painter. Sure enough, the fickle artist drops the mom and marries the daughter -- and then they make the mistake of moving in with Renée. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1961
Aladdin (Donald O'Connor) is a poor young man living in ancient Bagdad, who is given to flights of imagination, and taken with tales of the wealthy and powerful -- in many ways, he's still a boy, and so caught up in his daydreaming that he doesn't realize how his one-time childhood playmate Djalma (Noelle Adam), now a grown young woman, loves him (even if her merchant father thinks he's a worthless loafer). In a moment of indulgence, his mother buys Aladdin an old lamp so that he can have light at night "like a rich man." He accidentally discovers that the lamp contains a genie $Vittorio De Sica), who will grant him three wishes -- but he is so scatterbrained, that he can't figure out exactly how he called the genie in the first place. Aladdin and Djalma both end up headed for Basra and the wedding of the young Prince Malouk (Mario Girotti) to the princess (Michele Mercier), and both are caught up in the plans of the evil Grand Vizier (Fausto Tozzi) to kill the prince and marry the princess himself. Those plans, helped by a malevolent old magician (Raymond Bussieres), include the use of two full-size magical dolls, one a dancing wonder and the other with a deadly embrace. And only Aladdin and his genie, and the brave young prince, can stand in his way. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Noëlle Adam, (more)
- 1961
In this Italian costume epic chronicles the exploits of an innocent maiden who lives near Thebes. She is in love with a sculptor but cannot marry him when a high-ranking reveals that he is her father and that she was betrothed at birth to a mentally ill prince slated to soon take over the country. The father then hands down a death sentence for the sculptor, but fortunately he escapes to find the prince, who happens to be a friend of his. There he asks for and is granted a pardon. Time passes and the prince becomes king; meanwhile, the maiden undergoes a ritual purification and changes her name to "Nefertiti." The sculptor is now with a gypsy. Unfortunately, he is again imprisoned by Nefertiti's father who threatens to kill him unless his unwilling daughter marries the new king. After the wedding, the sculptor does a bust of his beloved, and she tells him that while she still loves him, she fears for her husband's mind if she leaves. Her manipulative father is well aware of the king's instability and is hoping that eventually he will have all the power. To get closer, he kills the king's best friend, a rival priest, which pushes the king to suicide. Suddenly Nefertiti becomes queen. With the sculptor's help, she rallies the army and wins her power. In the end, the jilted gypsy gets her revenge by killing Nefertiti's father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In this sword and sandal epic set during Rome's attack on ancient Greece, both the Roman and Carthaginian armies are battling for possession of Syracuse. Brave Archimedes is assigned to head the defense of the city. He is temporarily distracted after his lover gets pregnant and her evil step-brother takes her to Roman soldiers. The experience affects her so deeply that she loses her memory. She then marries a Roman dignitary. Archimedes also marries and many years pass. Now the Greek hero must head for Rome to form a new alliance. There he sees his long-lost love. She sees him too and instantly regains her memory, but to spare her son unnecessary grief, she does not tell her son. Later the Romans renege and again attack Syracuse. This time, the Roman fleet is destroyed and so are the respective spouses of the star-crossed lovers. Finally freed of their constraints the two marry, but for the sake of their son, they still restrain from telling him the truth about his father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossano Brazzi, Tina Louise, (more)
- 1960
Top-heavy with wild action scenes and female pulchritude, this routine Italian costume adventure is set in the 7th century B.C. on the island of Lesbos, where the immortal poetess Sappho (Tina Louise) is leading a revolt against the corrupt government of Mytilene. Aiding her in overthrowing the yoke of tyranny is the handsome Phaon (Kerwin Mathews). For some reason it is the temple of Aphrodite that is the focus of attention in this supposed battle for the rights of the ordinary people, and not the temple of Mars. Sappho's sexual orientation is a moot point. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerwin Mathews, Tina Louise, (more)
In this fantasy adventure, Jason and Orpheus leave Thessaly to quest for the magical Golden Fleece. Along the way they encounter an assortment of monsters, wizards and a conniving witch. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
This sword and sandal epic set in 217 AD follows the exploits of a courageous gladiator who is taken prisoner on behalf of the Queen of Palmyra. To win her confidence, the gladiator pretends to hate his Roman masters, but as soon as she trusts him, he has his soldiers take her prisoner. Because he has fallen for her, the gladiator has her released and then saves her by claiming that her crimes against the Empire were precipitated by her counselor. Fortunately, the Senates believe it and romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Ekberg, Folco Lulli, (more)
- 1957
Also known as And God Forgives, this oddball melodrama was Spain's entry in the 1957 Berlin Film Festival. The story focuses on three murderers, two of whom are beyond redemption while the third may yet be straightened out. After a pulse-pounding chase, the trio is captured and sentenced to death. It literally requires the Hand of God to sort out which of the three is to be spared the garotte. Audiences in Berlin were even divided in their reaction to Amaneer en Puerta Oscura; some loved it unconditionally, others hurried towards the exit before the film was half over. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Luis Pena, (more)
- 1954
Vittorio De Sica, Cesare Zavattini, and Giuseppe Marotta wrote this anthology of tales depicting various aspects of Neapolitan life, with the emphasis of poignancy and comedy: "The Racketeer" features Toto with a gangster as his unwanted house guest; "Pizza On Credit" gave Sophia Loren one of her first starring roles, as a wayward wife who loses her wedding ring; "The Gambler" stars De Sica in a hilarious performance as a compulsive gambler whose rich family won't give him money, so he's reduced to playing cards with the young son of his servant; "Theresa" features Silvana Mangano as a prostitute who discovers that a man really does have to be crazy to marry her. (Two other episodes were cut for the film's U.S. release.) ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Totò, Pasquale Cennamo, (more)
