Enzo Fiermonte Movies

The Italian Merchant of Slaves spends an inordinate amount of time concentrating on underclad young beauties who've been sold into slavery in the Middle East. For those in the audience not interested in this sort of the thing, the script dwells upon a captured slave trader who falls in love with a downtrodden unwed mother. The film shows signs of being radically re-edited for American consumption: after 68 minutes, it comes to an unexpected halt, after tying up only one of its many loose plot strands. Enzo Fiermonte plays the reformed trader, while Annette Bach is his lady love. Director Duilio Coletti does his best with slipshod material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Gallico adapted his own short story Never Take No For an Answer in collaboration with his wife Pauline. Filmed on location in the Italian communities of Rome and Assissi, the film relates the simple story of 7-year-old war orphan Peppino (Vittorio Mannunta). When his beloved donkey falls ill, Peppino insists upon transporting the animal to the tomb of St. Francis, patron saint of animals. Denied permission by the local authorities, Peppino decides to take his case all the way to the Pope, and to that end embarks upon a grueling journey to the Vatican. Never Take No for an Answer was remade for television in 1973 as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Star Dennis O'Keefe doubles as director in Angela. O'Keefe plays a GI who falls in love with Mara Lane in postwar Rome. Lane kills her boss, forcing her to flee the law. O'Keefe goes along for the ride so that he won't be knocked off by Lane's husband. Just when it looks as though O'Keefe is willing to go to any lengths to protect the woman he loves, he discovers that she frankly isn't worth it. Filmed on location, Angela lacks the pacing and punch necessary to sustain audience empathy with the two characters; still, O'Keefe knows how to frame a scene and get the most out of his largely unknown cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

British sex symbol Belinda Lee stars in the overheated Italian costume melodrama La Venere di Cheronea (The Venus of Cheronea). Lee is cast as Afrodite, the girl who allegedly inspired the greatest works of famed Greek sculptor Praxiletes (Massimo Girotti). According to the screenplay, Afrodite was also the romantic bone of contention between Praxiletes and fugitive warrior Claudio (Jacques Sernas). Naturally, the plotline requires the curvaceous Lee to disrobe at the slightest provocation, and just as naturally, the censors had a hissy-fit every time she bared her knee or shoulder. The principal attribute of La Venere di Cheronea is the excellent color cinematography of Arturo Galles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Luchino Visconti's operatic masterpiece tells the story of the Parondis, a poor family from a village in southern Italy who come to Milan seeking a better life. Following the death of her husband, proud Rosaria (Katina Paxinou) picks up stakes and moves to the city with four of her sons: Simone (Renato Salvatori), Rocco (Alain Delon), Ciro (Max Cartier), and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi). Awaiting them in Milan is her oldest son, Vincenzo (Spiros Focas), who himself is preoccupied with his impending nuptials to the beautiful Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale). Divided into chapters focused loosely on each brother, the movie chronicles the Parondis' struggle to get by, as the brothers take odd jobs and the family endures life in a cramped tenement. Much of the movie's second half deals largely with Simone and Rocco. The loutish Simone eventually finds success as a boxer, and the family soon moves to a better neighborhood. Meanwhile, Rocco gets drafted by the military, and becomes a successful boxer himself upon his return. Complications arise when Nadia (Annie Girardot), a prostitute, enters their lives. Simone falls in love with Nadia first; however, Rocco eventually becomes the object of her affection. Simone's obsession with Nadia and his rapidly deteriorating behavior ultimately threaten to bring the family to ruin, even as the saintly Rocco tries to save his brother. At the peak of Rocco's success, Simone commits a crime that cruelly dashes Rocco's hopes of keeping the family together. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide

Steve Reeves once again dons sandals and hoists a sword to come to the dashing rescue of the oppressed masses in this routine Roman tale of the good old days when men were unbelievably muscular, invulnerable fighting machines. Randus (Steve Reeves) is a centurion assigned to Rome's army in Egypt in the first century B.C. who finds out, one fine day, that he is actually the son of the legendary Spartacus. Inspired by this new identity, he decides to continue with his centurion's duties as a cover and dedicate himself to freeing the slaves that labor for the unjust and brutal Cesare Grassus (Claudio Gora). When not overcoming the forces that keep people enslaved, Randus has time for Clodia (Gianna Maria Canale) and some relief from all that fighting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This 153-minute Biblical epic about salt and sin is directed by Robert Aldrich and has enough dynamic interactions between its chief protagonists to sustain interest in-between climactic scenes. Stewart Granger is Lot, the Hebrew leader who takes his people to camp in the Valley of Jordan only to find that they are caught between the Helamites on the one hand, and the wicked Queen Bera (Anouk Aimee) on the other. She rules over the twin cesspools of Sodom and Gomorrah and is beleaguered by a crafty brother who wants the scepter she now wields. The Queen makes a pact with Lot that he can stay with the Hebrews in the valley as long as he defends it -- she wants to use him and the Hebrews as a first line of defense against the Helamites. To seal the pact, she gives Lot her best slave Ildith (Pier Angeli) to be his wife. Adventures and excitement prevails as Lot and the Hebrews brave one challenge after the other -- until Lot realizes that his people are being corrupted by the environment of Sodom and Gomorrah and eventually receives a Divine vision and knows he has to lead the Hebrews away from here. Special effects are impressive and take much of the impact away from the fate of Ildith, as she turns one last time to look back at the crumbling cities. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this swashbuckling tale of action and adventure, a dashing, muscle-bound sultan's son struggles to single-handedly stave off Queen Victoria's army of invaders and thereby save his father from kidnappers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Producer/director Roger Corman briefly abandoned Edgar Allan Poe for The Secret Invasion, a commendable attempt to make a war epic on a "B" budget. The story is a scaled-down precursor to The Dirty Dozen: Five criminals are given a chance at a pardon by agreeing to participate in a suicide mission for British Intelligence. They are smuggled into Yugoslavia (where this film was made) to conduct several commando raids against the Nazi invaders. The quintet is comprised of veterans of internationally-produced war films: Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Henry Silva (observe the cast and guess who gets killed first). Corman's skill at generating excitement through quick cutting and careful camera composition is given an exhilarating workout in The Secret Invasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Snow Devils and Devil Men From Space, this Italian melodrama is a muddled mixture of two popular film genres. Part of the story is given over to a search for the destroyers of a Himalyan weather station. When the search party reaches their destination, they are captured by what seems to be a tribe of abominable snowmen. We soon learn that the blue-tinted beasties are actually the vanguard of an invading army of extraterrestrials. Heading the cast of Snow Demons are Jack Stuart (also known as Giacomo Rossi Stuart) and Amber Collins (aka Ombretta Coli); the director was Anthony Dawson (aka Antonio Margheriti; do we detect a pattern here?) The film was originally released as I Diavolo della Spazzio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Peter Sellers as star, Neil Simon as screenwriter, and Vittorio DeSica as director, how could After the Fox miss? Miss it did, however--though the film, patchy and inconsistent though it might be, definitely has its moments. Sellers plays an Italian master thief who can't seem to stay out of jail. His latest scheme involves moving $3 million worth of stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Rome. To cover his tracks, Sellers pretends to be a "nouvelle vague" movie director, filming a crime picture. Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time, plays his movie-struck sister. The film is effortlessly stolen by Victor Mature, who is unbearably funny as a vainglorious hasbeen Hollywood star. Director DeSica shows up in the film as "himself"-at least until all his camera equipment is stolen by Sellers and his partner-in-crime Akim Tamiroff. Never as hilarious as it should have been, After the Fox nonetheless manages a few isolated belly laughs. Outside of Mature's performance, our favorite bit in the film is the final gag: "Ze wrong man has escaped!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide