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
- 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)
- 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)
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
