Vittorio Gassman Movies
One of the most popular and versatile stars in Italy for over 40 years, handsome, flamboyant Vittorio Gassman has found tremendous success on stage and screen as an actor. Internationally, Gassman is perhaps best known as the comic star of such films as I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street) (1956) and Lo Zio Indegno (The Sleazy Uncle) (1989). Before making his film debut in the 1946 Preludio d'Amore, Gassman had established himself as a major stage star, having appeared in some 40 productions; he specialized in classical plays.He was born in Genoa, the son of an Italian mother and an Austrian father, and before entering the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, studied law. It was his mother who encouraged Gassman to become an actor. In film, he started out in dramatic or romantic roles, but did not become a star until his fourth film, Giuseppe De Santis' Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice) (1949), in which he played the fugitive lover of buxom peasant Silvana Mangano. The film was an international hit as was Gassman. He had further success playing the villainous Vittorio to Mangano's Anna in Anna (1951). In 1952, Gassman headed for Hollywood to call on Shelly Winters. The two married shortly thereafter and Gassman was contracted to MGM. Appearing in such average fare as Cry of the Hunted (1953), Mambo, and Rhapsody (1954) did little to popularize him in the U.S. Gassman eventually tired of trying to make it in the States and after divorcing Winters, returned to the Italian stage. In 1956, he played Anatole in King Vidor's War and Peace and reestablished himself as a star in the Rififi parody I Soliti Ignoti. That year, Gassman also established the Teatro Popolare Italiano, his own theater troupe. The actor cut his directorial teeth with filmmaker Francesco Rosi with a biography of a famous British actor for Kean (1957). The film was not a success but did serve to add fuel to Gassman's reputation for occasionally hamming up his roles. By the 1960s, the heretofore serious actor began focusing on comedic, often satirical films. His winning of the 1975 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a sightless captain in Porfumo di Donna was a highlight in Gassman's career (the film inspired an American version, The Scent of a Woman (1992) starring Al Pacino). Gassman's film career continued in high gear through the mid-'80s with notable films including C'Eravama Tanto Amati (Those Were the Years) (1975) and Caro Papa (Dear Father) (1979), some of which, like The Nude Bomb (1980), were made in Hollywood. After 1985, Gassman began appearing in fewer films, though he did have a memorable turn as a crime lord in the tense Hollywood drama Sleepers in 1996. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Veteran Hollywood writer/director Russell Rouse delves into the documentary field in King of Sports. The sport so anointed is horse racing. Rouse demonstrates how success at the race track is determined by three factors: style, breeding and luck. Highlights in this 50-minute effort include several pulse-pounding racing sequences (we expected no less). Produced by Joe Burnham, King of Sports is currently available from the Equestrian Video Library. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1947
This Italian drama is a wartime version of the old story. Set during WW II, it follows the journeys of a cursed French Jew who turns against his people and helps the Nazis. Later his guilt overcomes him and he allows himself to be sent to a concentration camp. There he falls in love. The two escape, but when they learn that the Nazis will massacre the other prisoners if he doesn't return, he is forced to turn himself in. At the story's end, the fellow is finally granted eternal rest and ends up gunned down by the German soldiers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Valentina Cortese, (more)
- 1948
Preludio D'Amore (Love Prelude) is a minor Italian romantic drama with an impressive cast. The story, involving a romance between two budding juvenile delinquents, is nothing special. Nor is the perfunctory direction by workhorse Giovanni Paolucci. What really makes this thing percolate are its stars, including veteran "action" hero Massimo Girotti, frequent Roberto Rosselini collaborator Maria Michi, Hollywood-bound ingenue Marina Berti, and comparative newcomer Vittorio Gassman. The film was put together by Albatros Productions, one of the most ill-named companies in the history of the cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Marina Berti, (more)
- 1948
Originally released as Riso Amaro, Bitter Rice was one of the landmark films of the postwar Italian neorealist movement. Silvana Mangano portrays one of hundreds of women toiling slavishly in the Po Valley rice fields. She is courted by two men: respectable Raf Vallone and no-good fugitive from justice Vittorio Gassman. Mangano chooses Gassman, a decision which brings disaster not only to her but to her co-workers. The rice-field scenes are realistic enough to pass muster as documentary footage, though they tend to be undercut in the English-language version by the amateurish dubbing. Critics were unanimous in their praise for Bitter Rice; their words were, however, ignored by the male fans who came to see the film solely on the strength of the now-famous production still of the buxom Silvana Mangano standing in the rice field wearing tight shorts and torn black stockings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, (more)
- 1949
In this suspenseful crime drama, two conniving crooks continually double-cross each other. Eventually their victim comes back to get revenge upon them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Barely seen in the US at the time of its release, the Italian Lure of the Sila (IL Lupo Della Sila) became a television mainstay in the 1960s. Vittorio Gassman plays a man whose life is ruined when he is accused of murder. Gassman's tragedy is broadcast throughout Italy, "glorified" in song and story. Forced to assume a new identity, Gassman's sister Silvana Magnano quietly plans her revenge. It's best to see Lure of the Sila in an uncut, subtitled version; the dialogue in the 72-minute English-dubbed version is downright puerile at times, totally unworthy of this compelling melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1950
I Fuorilegge was based on the career of the late and unlamented Sicilian bandit chieftain Giuliamo. Ermanno Randi plays the Giuliamo counterpart, here renamed Cosimo. The film unfolds in a sketchy, anecdotal fashion, concluding with a reasonably faithful recreation of the events leading up to the bandit's capture. In the film, Cosimo is killed by the police; in real life, Giuliamo was still alive--but not for long. For box-office insurance, Vittorio Gassman and Umberto Spadaro appear in secondary roles. Though director Aldo Vergano made no secret of sentiments in his previous films, I Fuorilegge is admirably objective, permitting the viewer to decide whether Giuliamo was hero or villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Umberto Spadaro, (more)
- 1950
Ho Sognato il Paradiso is adapted from a play by Guido Cantini. Geraldine Brooks, an American actress who was living and working in Italy in 1950, stars as a "fallen woman" who'd like to get back up again. Her one opportunity to escape her tawdry lifestyle arrives in the form of a handsome young attorney, played by Vittorio Gassman. Hiding her past from the attorney, the girl enjoys a few blissful months. But when he discovers that she's been a purveyor of the World's Oldest Profession, the results are calamitous. Despite the name value of Geraldine Brooks, Ho Sognato il Paradiso ran into serious censorship problems when it was distributed in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine Brooks, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1950
Exiled Marco of Amalfi heads a revolution to free his people from the conquering Normans. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1951
Silvana Mangano portrays a fickle club chanteuse who must choose between the love of two men (Raf Vallone and Vittorio Gassman). She chooses neither, entering a convent for the sake of convenience. This overwrought drama was produced by Dino de Laurentiis, and reworked by five screenwriters including such respected names as Dino Risi and Franco Brusati, but comes up as a soggy soap-opera rather than an imposing star-vehicle. Nino Rota's fine score and the always watchable Mangano are its only saving graces. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone, (more)
- 1952
Voice in Your Heart (Une Voce nel tuo Cuore) is purely and simply a showcase for the splendid
singing talents of Beniamino Gigli and Gino Bechi. The main plot concerns the romance between war-correspondent Paul (Vittorio Gassman) and cabaret-singer Helen (Fiorella C. Fionti). Paul encourages Helen to pursue an operatic career, which is how Gigli and Bechi figure into the proceedings. The course of true love is halted by Paul's faithless former girlfriend, played by American actress Constance Dowling. As can be seen, the plot of Voice in Your Heart is hardly new; and as previously mentioned, its principal raison d'etre is the superb operatic passages provided by Signors Gigli and Bechi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
singing talents of Beniamino Gigli and Gino Bechi. The main plot concerns the romance between war-correspondent Paul (Vittorio Gassman) and cabaret-singer Helen (Fiorella C. Fionti). Paul encourages Helen to pursue an operatic career, which is how Gigli and Bechi figure into the proceedings. The course of true love is halted by Paul's faithless former girlfriend, played by American actress Constance Dowling. As can be seen, the plot of Voice in Your Heart is hardly new; and as previously mentioned, its principal raison d'etre is the superb operatic passages provided by Signors Gigli and Bechi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Gino Bechi, (more)
- 1953
This tuneful romantic melodrama is set in a tiny Mexican village and is comprised of three storylines. One tale concerns a pair of young lovers from rival villages who will not be able to marry until a long time feud is ended. In another tale, an heir to a large fortune falls in love with an impoverished girl. His family is dead set against the match. When he is diagnosed with a fatal tumor, the man begs the girl to marry him, but she refuses and instead arranges for him to marry another. In the third story, a matador's comely sister falls in love with a street vendor. Unfortunately, the matador hates her beloved and to break them up permanently, slyly convinces the peddler to enter the dangerous bullring. Fortunately for the sister, her brother's scheme fails spectacularly. She then marries the peddler and makes an ironic discovery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, Ricardo Montalban, (more)
- 1953
This drama chronicles the exploits of Peter, a European desperate to enter the United States. Because he can't be granted asylum due to the lack of proper papers, he resorts to jumping ship and sneaking in. In the Big Apple, he is assisted by two people who know about his past. One of them is a jazz musician, a former American pilot shot down in Europe during WWII. Peter helped the man then and hopes that he will now vouch for Peter in his attempts to obtain legal papers by showing that he was instrumental in aiding underground activities during the war to help the Allied cause. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Gloria Grahame, (more)
- 1953
- NR
On the whole, the MGM B product of the 1950s contained some of the studio's best-ever "small" pictures. Filmed on location in the Louisana swamplands, Cry of the Hunted boils down to an extended chase, with escaped convict Vittorio Gassman as the fox and sheriff Barry Sullivan as the hound. Sullivan's deputy William Conrad secretly hopes that Gassman will get away, so that he, Conrad, can step into his boss' job. Polly Bergen is the requisite love interest, effectively deglamourized to fit in with her soggy surroundings. Cry of the Hunted is directed with flair by Joseph H. Lewis, who always managed to rise above the slimmest of budgets and the barest of production values. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, (more)
- 1953
Originally released as Trattedella Blanche, Girls Marked Danger offers a voyeuristic glimpse at the subrosa world of 20th century white slavery. Veteran Hollywood heavy Marc Lawrence plays a vice lord who recruits innocent young Italian ladies for his nefarious purposes, on the pretext of hiring them to be cabaret dancers in South America. Despite the fact that none of Lawrence's "girls" ever return home, the new candidates suspect nothing as they sign up for the tour. Since the plot and outcome of Girls Marked Danger are predictable, the film justifies its 78-minute length by concentrating on the backgrounds of some of the unfortunate lasses. The most tragic of the ladies is played by Eleanora Rossi Drago, who is not only brutally beaten and mishandled, but ends up dying in childbirth. The nominal romantic lead is played by Sophia Loren, who tends to be upstaged on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren, (more)
- 1954
Unable to find work in Hollywood due to the Blacklist, director Robert Rossen filmed his 1954 production Mambo in Italy. Silvana Mangano stars as Silvia, who hopes someday to become a famous dancer. In the meantime, Silvia is torn between two lovers: Count Enrico (Michael Rennie), who hasn't much longer to live, and Mario Rossi (Vittorio Gassman), an irresponsible adventurer. Gaining success as a dancer after joining the troupe managed by Toni Burns (Shelley Winters), Silvia continues to waver in her affections between her two suitors. By the time she makes her choice, it turns out to be the wrong one. The plotline is rather hard to follow, reportedly because director Rossen was obliged to recut and re-recut the film when it previewed badly. At least Mambo affords modern-day viewers the pleasure of seeing Katherine Dunham, one of the greatest American dancers of the 20th century, in action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Michael Rennie, (more)
- 1954
Rhapsody is high-gloss soap opera in the grand MGM manner. Elizabeth Taylor stars as Louise Durant, the beautiful but spoiled daughter of millionaire Nicholas Durant (Louis Calhern). Accustomed to getting whatever she wants, Louise sets her sights on violin student Paul Bronte (Vittorio Gassman). Before long, however, she tires of Paul's all-consuming devotion to his music. Pianist James Guest (John Ericson) is the next moth drawn to Louise's flame. He is willing to put his career on the back burner for her sake -- and becomes an irresponsible drunk in the process. Anxious to win back Paul, who is now a famed concert violinist, Louise tries to rehabilitate James so he will be able to resume his concert activities -- thereby allowing Louise free rein to chase after Paul. Someone's going to have to eat humble pie before all this is over, and that someone has black hair and violet eyes. Rhapsody was adapted from Maurice Guest, a novel by Henry Handel Richardson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1955
In the last stages of his career, veteran American director Robert Z. Leonard dabbled in international productions. One of the best-distributed of these was the Gina Lollobrigida vehicle Beautiful But Dangerous. Lollobrigida is cast as Lina Cavaliari, an earthy Italian peasant who becomes a world-renowned opera singer. She also matriculates into something of a mantrap, making up for all the years that she was spurned and ignored by her "betters." One of Lina's many swains is played by none other than Robert Alda. Originally titled La Donna piu bella del mondo, Beautiful But Dangerous benefits immeasurably from Mario Bava's sumptuous cinematography. And as a bonus, La Lollo does her own singing! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1956
Two directors called the shots on Difendo il Mio Amore; Giulio Macchi helmed the original Italian version, while Hollywood's Vincent Sherman handled the English-language version. In a radical departure from her usual sexpot roles, Martine Carol plays a dull, drab young woman whose life is permanently altered when she becomes involved in a murder case. Journalist Vittorio Gassman, ever on the prowl for a scoop, pursues Martine for the "real story," championing her cause in the process. The result, however, is misery and heartbreak for all concerned. Featured in the cast is Alan Furlan, an American actor then working in Italy who later returned to the U.S. to become the mentor of Wisconsin's famed Sunset Playhouse. The English version of Difendo il Mio Amore was released as To Defend My Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martine Carol, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1956
A reporter's search for scandal is the focus of this drama. He is looking for dirt to boost his paper's ratings. He begins digging around in the past of a prominent banker's new wife. Before her marriage, she had been a nobleman's personal secretary until he was poisoned. The journalist soon learns that the woman's daughter was born out of wedlock. The woman explains that the child's father, her fiance, had been killed during the war. This does not prevent the reporter from publishing his tales. As a result even her husband begins to doubt her.Their lives change dramatically, when her daughter, who suffers from polio, is run over by a truck while trying to escape from photographers. The banker soon believes his honest wife. The sleazy reporter gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures. Some of the panoramic battle sequences are so expertly handled by second-unit director Mario Soldati that they appear to be Technicolor-and-Vistavision newsreel footage of the actual events. Still, the film falters dramatically, principally because of a lumpy script and King Vidor's surprisingly lustreless direction. In addition, the casting is wildly consistent: for example, while Audrey Hepburn is flawless as Natasha, Henry Fonda is far too "Yankeefied" as the introspective Pierre. Proving too long and unwieldy for most audiences, War and Peace died at the box office; far more successful was the epic, scrupulously faithful 1968 version, filmed in the Soviet Union. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1957
Diana Dors, Britain's equivalent to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, is virtually the whole show in La Ragazza del Palio (The Girl and the Palio). Diana plays Diana Wilson, a Texas gal who wins a trip to Italy from a radio quiz program. The minute she alights from the plane, our heroine is besieged by predatory males, most of them fortune-hunters. When True Love arrives in the form of impoverished Italian prince Vittorio Gassman, Diana nearly loses her man by coming on too strong. Somehow the plot is resolved happily when Diana's horse beats the Prince's at the annual Palio Race (it makes more sense on screen). La Ragazza del Palio was lavishly filmed on location at Siena, San Gimignano and Tuscany. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Dors, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
Mario Monicelli's classic crime comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street (I Soliti Ignoti) features Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni as a pair of thieves who head a group of criminals in a break-in attempt. Their plan involves digging an underground tunnel from an apartment that leads to a neighboring business and drilling their way inside. In addition to each of the burglars struggling with individual personal problems, the group must reassess their plans after they find themselves not in the store, but a different room of the apartment from which they started. Big Deal on Madonna Street is a spoof of Jules Dassin's caper classic Rififi. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1958
Based on the Alexander Pushkin story The Captain's Daughter, Tempest is set in Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. A Russian ensign named Peter Griniev (Geoffrey Horne), banished by Catherine (Viveca Lindfors) to a distant outpost, saves the life of Pugachov (Van Heflin), leader of a peasant uprising. Allowed to escape, Griniev tries to warn of the Pugachov's plans, but the Russian generals refuse to listen. When Griniev attempts to remove Pugachov's daughter (Silvano Mangano) from harm's way, he is accused of desertion. This time it is Pugachov's turn to rescue Griniev by convincing Catherine that the boy is innocent of treason. Tempest compensates for its overall dullness with a few brilliantly staged battle sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
