Fosco Giachetti Movies
- 1973
Murder, industrial espionage, political intrigue and Jean-Paul Belmondo are the strengths of this French thriller. Cordell (Belmondo) is the heir of a French industrialist, who dies in an air crash. When someone almost succeeds in framing Cordell with a case of drugs, he begins to suspect that his father's death was not accidental. He hires a private detective and finds that a reporter working for his father's magazine (one of the many companies he owned) was looking into plans by another multinational to take over the company. Also, Cordell's father-in-law, a former Italian fascist, may not have given up his old loyalties. As these facts emerge, his enemies become even more determined to get him out of the way. This film caused some controversy in France where it was viewed as a sharp commentary on the society by the director, a former journalist. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Carla Gravina, (more)
The conformist is 1930s Italian Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a coward who has spent his life accommodating others so that he can "belong." Marcello agrees to kill a political refugee, on orders from the Fascist government, even though the victim-to-be is his college mentor. The film is a character study of the kind of person who willingly "conforms" to the ideological fashions of his day. In this case, director Bernardo Bertolucci suggests that Marcello's desire to conform is rooted in his latent homosexuality. In addition to its strong storyline, the film is critically revered for the astonishing production design by Nedo Azzini, which, together with Vittorio Storaro's camerawork, recreates the atmosphere of Fascist Italy with some of the most complex visual compositions ever seen on film, filled with highly stylized uses of angles, shapes, and shadows. The Conformist was cut by five crucial minutes when first released in the US; those missing moments were restored in the 1994 reissue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sanda, (more)
- 1967
Ana Maria (Martha Hyer) feels ignored by her wealthy husband when he constantly has his mind on business. She turns her attention to former flame Andres (John Ronane), a successful artist with a wife of his own. Andres wants to rekindle the old romance, and Ana Maria is willing until her long-lost father (Fosco Giachetti) returns. There are moments of welcome comedy relief in Ana Maria's gossiping girlfriend, the whiny children, and the stalwart and honest taxi driver. However, the comedy is used to diffuse the potentially volatile marital disharmony that is never completely resolved. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha Hyer, John Ronane, (more)
- 1963
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Jacob, the Man Who Fought With God tells the story of the Biblical figure Jacob. The film touches on many of the major events in his life including his marriage to Rachel and his relationship with his brother Esau. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This is a standard, somewhat slow-paced drama about a much-needed transformation in a husband and father. Duncan (Van Heflin) is a womanizer who has no faith in the loyalty of any woman and cannot shake that attitude after he falls in love with Liana (Ellie Lambetti) and marries her. One of several disagreements with Liana sends Duncan out of the house with their son to escape on a boating trip. Instead of the respite he imagines, Duncan and his son are left stranded on a small raft after an accident -- giving him plenty of time to think back on his own behavior and why he might believe his wife is unfaithful. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Ellie Lambetti, (more)
- 1960
Vittorio Gassman showcases his comic talents in this farce by director Dino Risi about the growing success of a con artist. Gerardo (Gassman) starts out as a vaudeville performer and noting that acting abilities can be used for less legit purposes, he creatively assumes different guises in order to con people out of anything from a pair of shoes to ultimately mucho lira. In one of his escapades he passes himself off as Greta Garbo, donning an appropriate disguise, and has all manner of paparazzi ready to take the bait. He did not learn all his inventive and often spontaneous tricks alone, his cellmate Chinotto (Peppino de Filippo) was a great mentor. But even his cellmate could not coach him on how to remain single after his girlfriend Annalise (Anna Maria Ferrero) sets her heart on matrimony. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Dorian Gray, (more)
- 1955
Told in pageantlike fashion, Casa Ricordi is the story of the Ricordi family, the most prestigious music publishers in all Italy. It was the Ricordis who, for better or worse, came up with the "royalty" concept, paying artists (and their families) for their work in perpetuity. As the family's fortune grows, the Ricordis rub shoulders with the musical glitterati of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini and Rossini. Naturally, this allows the film to showcase some of these composers' most famous works--and in true Hollywood-by-the-Mediterranean fashion, the principal influence for these compositions are the various members of the Ricordi family. The soundtrack of Casa Ricordi reverberates with the voices of such musical immortals as Tito Gobbi, Renata Tibaldi, Mario Del Monaco and Gianni Poggi, among many others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Bru, Elisa Cegani, (more)
- 1953
This Italian crime melodrama may remind some viewers of the methodical American TV series Dragnet. In trailing a gang of counterfeiters, the authorities follow the trail of clues to a small town. Here the creation of "funny money" is the principal industry --and the job is made easier because the counterfeiters have been able to get their hands on the same type of paper used for legal tender. Police inspector Moroni (Fosco Giachetti) continues to dog the criminals' trail to Naples, where the film comes to a rousing conclusion. A few arbitrarily inserted dance sequences involving a sexy young girl were added to hype the film's box-office appeal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Doris Duranti, (more)
- 1951
The sheer star power of Viviane Romance makes the more absurd passages of Crossroads of Passion tolerable. Set during WW II, the story concentrates on the activities of anti-Nazi saboteurs in Lisbon. Flying in the face of Portugal's wartime neutrality, the saboteurs do their best to knock off as many Germans as possible. Romance plays the lover of a murdered Nazi bigwig, and she intends to wreak vengeance on the killers--until the obligatory eighth-reel epiphany. Billed second in Crossroads of Passion is young Valentina Cortese, on the verge of bigger things. The film was originally released in France in 1947 as La Carrefour des Passions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viviane Romance, Valentina Cortese, (more)
- 1949
Fosco Giachetti stars as St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order, in the Italian Fear No Evil. Beginning life as the scion of a wealthy Roman family, Benedict de Norca forsakes all worldly goods to devote his life to God. The basic story will be familiar to followers of the Order and to religious scholars, but a general audience might have trouble following the plotline. In the tradition of Cecil B. DeMille, director Giueseppe N. Scotese shows the viewer the evils of sin by depicting sinners in action. Fear No Evil is largely set at the Monte Cassino monastery, much of which had to be reconstructed in a sound stage because of damages incurred by the monastery during WW II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Alfredo Varelli, (more)
- 1948
This Italian version of Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov understandably suffers in comparison with the lavish internationally produced 1958 remake. Still, the earlier film has much to offer, especially in terms of acting and directing. Reasonably faithful to the original, the film recounts the doleful story of a domineering Russian landowner and the effect his death has on his four sons. Singled out for critical praise was Giulio Donnini as the epileptic Smerdiakov. I Fratelli Karamazov successfully manages to pack most of the novel into 116 minutes, while the more celebrated remake was half an hour longer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Elli Parvo, (more)
- 1948
Scorned Flesh first saw the light of day in Italy under the title Statua Vivente. Fosco Giachetti plays a sailor who intends to break a few female hearts while on leave. Putting the make on shy young Laura Solari, Giachetti at first regards the girl as yet another conquest. Imagine his surprise when he realizes he's actually fallen in love with her! On the eve of their wedding, Solari is killed, sending the grief-stricken Giachetti off on a bender. While drowning his sorrows in a seedy dive, he meets a hard-bitten woman who happens to be the exact double of his lost love (and who happens to also be played by Laura Solari). In Vertigo fashion, Giachetti tries to make his new girlfriend over in the image of his deceased fiance -- and like Vertigo, his efforts are doomed to tragic failure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Solari, Fosco Giachetti, (more)
- 1947
This psychological drama is set aboard a submarine carrying Nazi officials fleeing their country just before the end of World War II. They are trying to get to South America, but along the way they meet with many obstacles including a bout with a destroyer where they are depth-charged. When the count's wife, Marly, (she is also the on-board general's mistress) is wounded the sub lands in France where the Germans snatch a doctor. The doctor knows his life is in danger. To combat the self-exiles he begins manipulating their emotions, getting them to feel despair, defeat, and helping them realize that all their actions are hopeless. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Henri Vidal, (more)
- 1946
Farewell, My Beautiful Naples (Adio, Mia Bella Napoli) was the first postwar effort by director Mario Bonnard, whose career had begun in 1909 (and would continue well into the early '60s!) Set at the turn of the century, the story concerns a young composer named Carlo Sanna (Fosco Giachetti) who falls in love with an American tourist named Roberta Sullivan (Vera Carmi). Complicating things is temperamental opera star Yvonne (Clelia Matania), who has set her cap for the handsome Sanna. The plot is an excuse for a cinematic sightseeing tour of Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi and Capri. At 100 minutes, Farewell, My Beautiful Naples was a bit too long for American tastes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Vera Carmi, (more)
- 1942
Based on the book by Ayn Rand, this Italian film follows the struggles of a young Russian woman, Kira Argounova (Alida Valli), who must become involved with a member of the Soviet secret police, even though she is repulsed by everything he stands for. The relationship she has with this man provides her with the money she needs to support her ill lover (Rossano Brazzi). This movie was originally released as two separate films, Noi Vivi and Addio Kira, and is in Italian with English subtitles. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alida Valli, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
- 1941
Sin Novedad en el Alcazar (Siege of the Alcazar) is fascist propaganda in the guise of popular entertainment. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the story dramatizes the 70-day defense of the Alcazar of Toledo by Nationalist troops under the command of General Moscardo. At the end of the siege, it appears as though the Republican forces are triumphant, but the defenders have the last laugh. The film's dramatic high point is Moscardo's sacrifice of his own son, held hostage by the Republicans (according to the film, the younger Moscardo goes to his death willingly and with a smile on his lips). Somehow or other, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco emerges as the hero of the film, though he was but one of three generals fighting at the Alcazar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Mireille Balin, (more)
- 1939
Italian filmmaker Carmine Gallone was still in his "operetta" mode when he helmed 1938's Il Sogno di Butterfly (Dream of the Butterfly) Maria Cebotari plays opera diva Rosa Belloni, currently starring in a production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The plot thickens when Rosa's backstage life begins to mirror the travails of the character she is portraying. The climax comes when Harry Peters (Fosco Giachetti), the American father of Rosa's illegitimate child, returns after four years with his new wife in tow, leading inexorably to a doleful ending both on- and offstage. Critics complained about the substandard photography in Il Sogno di Butterfly, but this might have been due to poor laboratory work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Cebotari, Fosco Giachetti, (more)
- 1939
Also known as The Naples That Never Dies, this Italian romantic yarn is a showcase for coquettish French leading lady Marie Glory. Agreeing to a wealthy marriage to Fosco Giachetti, Glory settles down to a dull and regimented existence with her husband's snobbish family. Rebelling against this stuffiness, our heroine conspires with her sister-in-law Paola Barbara to go on an uninhibited partying and gambling spree in beautiful Naples. Hubby Giachetti is aghast at this behavior and is on the verge of ordering his wife to pack her bags and leave when the timely arrival of the family obstetrician saves the day. Worth noting is the fact that Fosco Giachetti plays his stock character with warmth and humanity, making his last-minute decision to welcome his wife back all the more credible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Glory, Fosco Giachetti, (more)
- 1939
Two powerhouse European talents -- Jules Berry and Dita Parlo -- head the cast of La Signora di Montecarlo. Berry plays a thief working the gambling houses of Monte Carlo, with Parlo acting as his accomplice. Hoping to go straight, Parlo gets the opportunity when she renews her acquaintance with ex-flame Claudio Lehmann, whose brother Berry has targeted for fleecing. The film's happy ending wouldn't have been possible under Hollywood's strict Hays Office regime, which demanded punishment of all criminals, even sympathetic ones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jules Berry, Dita Parlo, (more)
