Cosetta Greco Movies
- 1957
I Sogni nel Cassetto was released in the U.S. as Dreams in a Drawer. The hero and heroine are students in a Northern Italian university. Though he barely knows her, the immature Mario (Enrico Pagani) proposes marriage to the equally childlike Lucia (Lea Masari). Both boy and girl are forced to grow up in a hurry when Lucia becomes pregnant. An unexpected tragedy sobers Mario to the fact that he still has a long way to go before attaining true manhood. During the preview process, I Sogni nel Cassetto was screened with two different endings, allowing audiences to make a choice. In Hollywood, it is likely that the final decision would have been very different. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lea Massari, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1955
Despite of (or perhaps because of ) its sparse production values and unpretentiousness, the Italian Gli Innamorati was feted at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The bulk of the story takes place in a single Roman neighborhood. In the manner of the 1925 German classic A Joyless Street, director Mauro Bolognini studies the hopes, dreams, successes and failures of the neighborhood's various and sundry denizens. No one subplot dominates the proceedings, though a bit of extra time is afforded the story of a fickle seamstress and her seemingly meek-and-mild boyfriend. The cast is dotted with such reassuringly familiar faces as Nino Manfredi and Gino Cervi. Released in the US as Wild Love, Gli Innamorati was instrumental in bringing international fame to director Bolognini, whose career soon shifted into high drive. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Interlenghi, Antonella Lualdi, (more)
Showing no signs of slowing down in his 70th year, Sacha Guitry served as director and writer of the lavish historical epic Napoleon, and also costarred as Talleyrand. It is now hard to assess the quality of the film, since most American prints are severely edited, and the color photography appallingly washed out. Reviewers in 1955 admired the effort that went into this $1,800,000 production, but complained that the viewer left the film with no deeper understanding of Napoleon Bonaparte than the viewer had had when coming in. Daniel Gelin poses impressively as the young Bonaparte, registering emotion only when things go wrong in his conquest of Europe, while Raymond Pellegrin is somewhat better as the older, more jaded Napoleon (the transition between the two actors is handled in a near-comic fashion). The Revolution is reduced to a few fleeting scenes, while the rest of the film is devoted to political infighting and betrayal. The huge supporting cast includes Michele Morgan as Josephine and Lana Marconi and Dany Robin, respectively, as Napoleon's mistresses Waleska and Desiree. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Raymond Pellegrin, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1954
Cronaca di Poveri Amani (Chronicle of Poor Lovers) was based on the novel of the same name by Vasco Pratolini. The scene is the Vico de Corno, a well-populated alleyway in the low-rent district of Florence. Set in the 1920s, the film recalls the tinderbox political climate of the era. The eponymous "poor lovers" include Milena (Antonella Lualdi), whose husband dies at the hands of the fascists; cynical prostitute Elisa (Cosetta Greco); and lonely but comparatively well-off invalid Gesuina (Anna Maria Ferrero). Marcello Mastrioanni also appears, though the emphasis is clearly on the women of the piece. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Ferrero, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1954
The title of this Italian musical extravaganza promises "Half a Century of Songs," and that's just what it delivers. What plot there is contrives to encapsulate seven crucial moments in modern Italian history, as represented by the popular songs of each era. Jam-packed with star power, the film offers such Mediterranean luminaries as Silvana Pampini, Renato Rascel, Maria Fiore and Franco Interleghi. Many of the performers play two or three different roles, with amusing results. Aimed directly and almost exclusively at Italian-language markets, Canzoni di Mezzo Secolo was not exactly a smash hit in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1953
La Voca del Silenzio (Voice of Silence) was the only Italian production of fabled German director G. W. Pabst. Based on a concept by neorealism specialist Cesar Zavattini (fleshed out by a team of =12= prominent writers, including Pabst himself and Jean Cocteau), the film follows a small group of very troubled men during a three-day spiritual sojourn. One is a politician, laden with guilt over his comportment during WW II. The second is a war veteran whose wife has "grown away" from him. The third is a writer of detective novels whose works might have inspired a real-life killing. The fourth is a thief who has come to the spiritual retreat to avoid capture. And the fifth is a candle merchant whose livelihood is threatened by modern technology. One of the few concessions to popular taste is a striptease sequence involving Rosanna Podesta. In keeping with the film's title, few words are spoken in La Voca del Silenzio; in this respect, the film is an intriguing throwback to Pabst's classic silent films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1953
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Italian law, "Article 519" covers sexual assault crimes. When Renato (Henri Vidal) refuses to marry his under-aged girlfriend Clara (Cosetta Greco), the girl's parents invoke Article 519. Renato is thrown in jail, thereby setting in motion a snowballing series of disasters. Eventually agreeing to marriage, Renato is a miserable husband. He finally realizes that he loves Clara when she comes to the aid of Renato's sister (Rosi Mazzacurati), who finds herself in a similar circumstance with her reluctant beau. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cosetta Greco, Henri Vidal, (more)
- 1953
La Nemica (The Enemy) is based on the popular 1920s stage play by Dario Nicodemi. The central character is Duchess Anna de Nemi (Elisa Cegani), who for reasons that no one can understand seems to despise Roberto (Frank Latimore),one of her two sons. All the more confusing is that everyone else likes the boy. Only after his brother Gastone (Giacomo Verlier) is killed in battle does Roberto learn the dark secret behind his mother's animosity. And it is only then that any sort of reconciliation can be realized. La Nemica is one of several European films made by Hollywood expatriate Frank Latimore, and one of the few that isn't a straightforward adventure yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elisa Cegani, Frank Latimore, (more)
- 1952
Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is better known by its English-language title Three Little Girls from Rome. The girls in question are Marisa, Elena and Lucia, played respectively by Lucia Bose, Cosetta Greco and Liliana Bonfatti. All three work in a fancy Roman house of fashion, and all three have aspirations beyond the confines of their current work. Eventually Marisa becomes a top fashion model, but at the expense of her personal happiness. Elena has her heart broken by her bookkeeper boyfriend. And Lucia flits from romance to romance, eventually "landing" on a race-horse jockey. There's more to the story than this, of course, but to reveal more would spoil the viewer's enjoyment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lucia Bosé, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1952
Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo represented another move away from neorealism into sheer commercialism by Italian filmmker Pietro Germi. The story is set in the 1860s, when the Northern and Southern regions of Italy were forcibly assembled into a unified whole. A bandit loyal to the idea of Southern sovereignty wreaks havoc upon the forces of Northern Italy. In depicting the exploits of the bandit and the diligence of his military pursuers, director Germi is careful not to take sides, mirroring the political confusion rampant in Italy at the time of the story. When distributed to the U.S., Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo was advertised along the lines of a Civil War epic --which, for all intents and purposes, it was. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amedeo Nazzari, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1951
La Cap De L'Esperance (The Cape of Hope) takes place in the criminal demi-monde of a French portside community. Faded beauty Myriam (Edwige Feuilliere) presides over a seedy waterfront dive. Myriam's kept man is shiftless young Pierre (Bernard Lajarrige), a petty thief planning a big-time robbery. Pierre in turn is romancing the daughter (Cosetta Greco) of safecracker Simon (Paolo Stoppa). The whole passing parade is cynically observed by crooked attorney Bob (Frank Villard), one of the masterminds of the robbery. There isn't a likeable or lovable character in the bunch, though Edwige Feuilliere manages to bring a soupcon of pathos to her stock role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edwige Feuillère, Frank Villard, (more)
- 1950
Gina Lollobrigida has top billing in Four Ways Out, but the film's dramatic weight is carried by its male stars. The story concerns a quartet of hard-luck cases, played by Renato Baldini, Enzo Maggio, Paul Muller and Fausto Tozzi. Feeling as though the cards have been stacked against them in life (and not without reason), the foursome turns to crime. The film's setpiece, the robbery of a stadium box-office while a soccer game is in progress, bears a passing resemblance to the key scene in Stanley Kubrick's later The Killing, though it is obvious that Kubrick did not in any way imitate the earlier film stylistically. One of the collaborators on the script for Four Ways Out was Federico Fellini. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Renato Baldini, (more)
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