Silvio Bagolini Movies
- 1963
This low-budget 16th century set epic follows the exploits of the conqueror Suleiman the Magnificent, the leader of the Ottoman Empire who tried to over take Europe. In this film, his target is the town of Szigetvar, a heavily fortified Christian outpost. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Credited in some source books to Lee Kresel, the French-made Prisoner of the Iron Mask was actually directed by Francesco DeFeo. This colorful if occasionally empty-headed swashbuckler concerns an evil count, who imprisons the patriot (Michael Lemoine) who bears proof of the count's perfidy. Few of the elements of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Iron Mask surface in this film, chiefly because it is based not on The Iron Mask but on another Dumas work, Ten Years After. Nor do D'Artagnan or the Three Musketeers make their anticipated appearances in this film. Rarely seen today, The Prisoner of the Iron Mask enjoyed its widest American exposure during the Color TV "boom" of the mid-1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Errol Flynn's immediate followup to his 1953 swashbuckler Master of Ballantrae was Il Maestro di Don Giovanni--or, as it was known in America, Crossed Swords. Flynn plays a Don Juan-like adventurer named Renzo, who fights and romances his way through all sorts of Italian court intrigue. His principal foe is the wicked coucillor (Roldano Lupi) of the Duke of Sivona (Piero Tordi), who intends to oust the Duke and claim Sivona for himself. In between the usual sword duels, Renzo dallies with the Duke's buxom daughter (Gina Lollobrigida). Crossed Swords failed to make a dent in the US, a fact that Errol Flynn would attribute to United Artists' lack of interest in promoting the property. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Gina Lollobrigida, (more)
Italian maestro Federico Fellini's first international success is a nakedly autobiographical film that bears many of the formal and thematic concerns that recur throughout his work. Set in the director's hometown of Rimini, I Vitelloni follows the lives of five young vitelloni, or layabouts, who while away their listless days in their small seaside village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the leader of the pack, marries his sweetheart, but finds himself constantly distracted by other women. Meanwhile, would-be playwright Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) continues work on his dreary plays, dreaming of staging them one day. Clownish Alberto (Alberto Sordi) still lives at home with his mother and sister, Olga (Claude Farell), while boasting of preserving the family honor by watching over her. While the movie seems to pay little attention to Riccardo (Riccardo Fellini) and Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi), the latter eventually emerges as its key character, plainly serving as Fellini's alter ego. Stuck in adolescence, the five friends stumble into various misadventures, as they seek to spice up their uneventful provincial lives. Ultimately, one of them breaks free from their self-imposed paralysis and moves on, leading to one of the most poignant farewell sequences in film history. A hit in Italy upon its release, I Vitelloni secured Fellini's reputation as an up-and-coming talent, while also introducing its title into Italian vernacular. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Franco Interlenghi, (more)
- 1953
This Italian anthology is comprised of five separate episodes. In the first tale, two impoverished parents must leave their baby because they cannot afford to feed it. The second concerns two aristocrats who have fallen into poverty and end up reunited when they both are cast as extras in a movie. The third tale centers upon a priest as he attempts to counsel a suicidal woman. The next tale looks at a happy cabby. Finally, a beautiful woman tries to evade an obsessed stalker with a video camera. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The title of this Italian period comedy translates to Bride for a Night. Armando Francioli plays an impoverished 18th-century musician who seeks the patronage of a wealthy, libertine count (Gino Cervi). When the count comes to town on a visit, the musician hits upon a scheme: he will bundle his real wife (Gina Lollobrigida) out of the house, hire a local courtesan (Nadia Gray) to pose as his wife, then allow the count to sleep with his "bride" in exchange for financial support. Inevitably, the plan falls through, with the count ending up in bed with the real wife while the husband stews in his own juices. If this plot sounds familiar, it is because Mogile per Una Notte was remade by Billy Wilder in 1964 as Kiss Me, Stupid. The most entertaining aspect of the original film is the presence of Gina Lollobrigida as a frowzy housewife who blossoms into a ravishing beauty after spending the night with the count. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gino Cervi, Armando Francioli, (more)
- 1952
Writer/director Francesco de Robertis' Angelo (1951), an affecting slice of neorealism, was an unexpected international success. The title character, played by non-professional Angelo Maggio, was the illegitimate offspring of an Italian woman and a black American GI. The film concentrated upon the woman's husband, an ex-convict who after virtually going to hell and back finds the capacity to forgive within himself. The 1952 sequel Angelo in the Crowd is every bit as compelling as the original. Still a remarkably unaffected performer, Angelo Maggio repeats his role. Now confined to a Catholic orphanage, Angelo slips away from his caretakers and heads to the streets of the city. Director DeMitri superbly conveys the wonders and terrors of a teeming Italian metropolis from a child's-eye view. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dante Maggio, Umberto Spadaro, (more)
Federico Fellini's directorial debut (co-directed with veteran Alberto Lattuada), Luci del Varietà is a bittersweet drama about a bunch of misfits in a traveling vaudeville troupe. The group of actors, dancers, and performers struggle to make it from town to town, playing to minimal crowds. Their comedic leader, Checco Dal Monte (Peppino De Filippo) just wants his act to be a success. His longtime sweetheart, Melina Amour (Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina), keeps the business end of things together and saves up money with plans of buying a business. Stumbling into one small town for another show, Checco meets beauty queen Lily (Carla Del Poggio) and puts her in the show as a dancer. When it appears that her sex appeal is drawing in large crowds of enthusiastic spectators, she quickly becomes the star of the show. Checco soon becomes infatuated with her, casting aside Melina and breaking up the troupe in order to put on a showcase for Lily instead. The loyal group of outcast performers are left without a leader, while star-eyed Lily proves to be relentless in her quest for fame. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Real-life beauty contest winner Gina Lollobrigida is appropriately cast in Miss Italia. The first half of the film is a dramatization of the events leading up to Italy's number-one beauty pageant. The final portion consists of footage from the actual event. Inevitably, the real thing is more fascinating than the soap-operalike plot, though Constance Dowling has some good moments as a prostitute who hopes to escape her sordid lifestyle by winning the Miss Italia crown. Filmed in 1949, Miss Italia made it to the U.S. in 1950, by which time Lollobrigida's star was on the ascent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Richard Ney, (more)
