Ennio Balbo Movies
- 1976
- R
Two mobsters are given a dangerous assignment in this crime drama. The two must learn which new gang smuggled a large stash of pure heroin into San Francisco and hid it in the cross the Don had imported from Italy and gave to his church. One of the gangsters is the Don's nephew. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Stacy Keach, (more)
Franco Nero here plays a film producer whose film is about to be seized by a stiff-necked Sicilian judge, but the judge is murdered before the seizure order can be given. This death has had an effect similar to kicking open an ant's nest, and the corrupt local politicians are all scrambling to do their best to confuse the investigation. Witnesses die in mysterious ways, and it looks at first as though some really heavy politics are behind the whole affair. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marco Guglielmi
- 1974
After several years of television work, Italian director Roberto Rossellini returned to the big screen with 1974's Anno Uno. The film recounts the life and career of postwar Italian Christian Democrat political leader Alcide de Gasperi (here played by Luigi Vannucchi). Gaspari gained considerable stature as politician and newpaper editor opposed Mussolini: he was imprisoned by the fascists, and after his release in 1929 spent many of his next years working quietly in the Vatican. During World War Two, already a man in his sixties, he was active in the Resistance movement. In this film, Gasperi's activities are traced from the moment of "Liberation" in 1945 to his death in 1954. He was the Italian Prime Minister in eight postwar governments from 1947 to 1953, and was a master consensus-builder. Despite his close ties to the Catholic Church, he worked hard to keep the Vatican from overly influencing postwar Italian politics. Most of the film's dialogue comes directly from public documents. Anno Uno might have gotten wider American play had Rossellini been able to realize his dream of casting Gregory Peck as Gasperi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Sidney Lumet directed this romantic melodrama involving deceit and marital secrets. The film takes place in Rome where lawyer Federico Fendi (Omar Sharif) falls in love with his colleague Renzo's (Fausto Tozzi) fiancee Carla (Anouk Aimee). Renzo warns Federico that Carla is actually a high-priced call girl, but Federico refuses to believe it. Instead, Carla and Federico marry. After the wedding however, Federico notices that Carla has been making curious disappearances from her domestic home. Recalling Renzo's warning, Federico begins the secretly follow her to find out the truth. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1967
This 1967 spaghetti western stars a master of that genre, Lee Van Cleef, as an aging, half-mad gunfighter. In an effort to regain his fearsome reputation, Van Cleef shoots down a local sheriff. He then finds he must deal with his young protégé Giuliano Gemma, who happened to be the sheriff's best friend. The climactic showdown finds Van Cleef facing down his former Gemma, with each man knowing the other's every move and thought. Also known as Day of Anger, this superior Italian oater was originally released as I Giorni dell'Ira. Its director was onetime Sergio-Leone-assistant Tonino Valerii. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Van Cleef, Giuliano Gemma, (more)
- 1966
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An unfaithful wife is visited by medieval plague victims, who were summoned from their graves by her occult-expert husband. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1965
The bulk of this amusing crime film consists of a plan to steal a fortune in gold from the supposedly impregnable vaults of Geneva's Credit Suisse Bank. A criminal genius (Philippe Leroy) watches from across the street as his six henchmen -- whose names all begin with the letter "A" -- carry out the caper. Among the burglars are such familiar actors as Gabriele Tinti and Gaston Moschin, while Rosanna Podesta appears as Leroy's mistress, the scheming Giorgia. After the heist itself, which consumes nearly an hour of screen time, the group becomes fraught with mistrust and suspicion, only to lose out on their wealth when the stolen gold ends up scattered in a public square. Leroy and the rest returned in director Marco Vicario's Il Grande Colpo dei Sette Uomini d'Oro the following year. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossana Podestà, Philippe Leroy, (more)
- 1965
Marcello Mastroianni stars in this film which combines much of the 1965 release Paranoia with new footage. A police inspector is told of the bizarre behavior of a pistol-packing papa who shoots blanks at his wife to keep her intimidated. He inserts a real bullet every so often just to let her know she should pay attention. Another story has Mastroianni as a man who tries to sell his blonde wife to a wealthy sheik with a large harem. His wife has her own ideas and sells her husband instead as an addition to a male harem. He is condemned to servitude as the beautiful blonde steps into a luxury car and leaves him in the desert. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Pamela Tiffin, (more)
