Gina Lollobrigida Movies

Former Hollywood musical director (and erstwhile government spy) Boris Morros was one of the producers of the British Tale of Five Cities. Bonar Colleano stars as British soldier Bob Mitchell, who has picked up American habits and speech patterns while employed in the U.S. Suffering from amnesia, Mitchell is led to believe that he is an American GI, though of course no records exist to verify this. Mitchell's confusion prompts a Manhattan-based magazine to launch a search for Bob's true identity, a search leading inexorably to the girls he left behind during WW II. The "five cities" visited during this exploratory journey are Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London; Mitchell's Roman sweetheart is played by Gina Lollobridgida, while his Viennese amour is Eva Bartok. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Luigi Comencini originally created Le Avventure di Pinocchio as a five-and-a-half-hour miniseries for Italian television. This 134-minute version, featuring various guest stars, was released theatrically. Pinocchio (Andrea Balestri) is a wooden puppet carved by Geppetto (Nino Manfredi), who is turned into a little boy by a magical fairy (Gina Lollobrigida). She insists that he be obedient and loving to his father Geppetto, but the rebellious Pinocchio tries to live independently -- and encounters many ordeals, from being turned into a donkey to getting swallowed by a whale. After he and Geppetto escape from the whale, Pinocchio is able to be the good son his father deserves. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

An all-star cast graces this Italian "omnibus" feature. The film consists of eight short stories, each based on nostalgic literary efforts. Linking the various stories is bookseller Aldo Fabrizi, who passes the time by reading the works dramatized herein. In "The Excelsior Ball," dancer Alba Arnova arouses the libido of several observers. In "Less Than a Day," a three-hour train delay wreaks havoc on the romance between Arnova and Andrea Checchi. In "Sardinian Drummer Boy," the title character (Enzo Cerusico) becomes an unexpected hero on the battlefield. In "Matter of Interest," two farmers (Arnoldo Foa and Folco Lulli) quarrel over a compost pile. In "The Idyll," two very young people (Maurizio Di Nardo and Geraldina Pariniello) fall in love. "Potpourri of Songs" delivers on its title through the musical versatility of Barbara Florian and Elio Pandolfi. "The Trial of Frine" finds accused murderess Gina Lollobrigida being defended by colorful lawyer Vittorio De Sica. And in "The Trap," an accusatory husband (Amedeo Nazzari) drives his far-from-innocent wife (Elis Cegani) into an act of extreme desperation. Also known as In Olden Days, Altri Tempi was distributed worldwide by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anna may be from Brooklyn, but this medium-budget domestic drama was filmed and financed in Italy. The title character, played by Gina Lollobrigida, returns from Flatbush to her small village in Italy in search of a husband. Among her suitors are Dale Robertson and Vittorio DeSica, indicating that the producers were hoping to "click" in box-offices on both sides of the Atlantic. Anna finally chooses the Right Man, with plenty of time for "sampling" along the way. The English-language scenes in Anna of Brooklyn were directed by Reginald Denham, while the Italian sequences were helmed by Carlo Lasticati. The film was distributed in the US by Columbia (who bought the picture from RKO) under the title Fast and Sexy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Mexican revolutionary offers four marauding outlaws a million bucks to destroy an arsenal owned by the Mexican army. The arsenal gets blasted, but the million bucks doesn't get delivered in this "outsmart the outsmarters" and "double-cross the double-crossers" western saga. ~ All Movie Guide

Humphrey Bogart stars as one of five disreputable adventurers who are trying to get uranium out of East Africa. Bogart's associates include pompous fraud Robert Morley, and Peter Lorre as the German-accented "O'Hara", whose wartime record is forever a source of speculation and suspicion. Becoming involved in Bogart's machinations are a prim British married couple (Edward Underdown and blonde-wigged Jennifer Jones). As a climax to their many misadventures and double-crosses, the uranium seekers end up facing extermination by an Arab firing squad. The satirical nature of Beat the Devil eluded many moviegoers in 1953, and the film was a failure. The fact that the picture attained cult status in lesser years failed to impress its star Humphrey Bogart, who could only remember that he lost a considerable chunk of his own money when he became involved in the project. Peter Viernick worked on the script on an uncredited basis. Beat the Devil eventually fell into public domain, leading to numerous inferior editions by second and third-tiered labels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gina Lollobrigida delivers a bright comic turn in Melvin Frank's farce concerning Carla, an Italian woman who, during World War II, had affairs with three American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army Air Force -- Phil Newman (Phil Silvers), Justin Young (Peter Lawford), and Walter Braddock (Telly Savalas). Finding that she is pregnant after the squadron is transferred, she convinces each of the three soldiers that he is the father of her child. Phil, Justin, and Walter react to Carla's pregnancy by sending her child-support checks -- checks that Carla has been receiving every month from each of them for the past 20 years. Meanwhile, in order to save face in her village, Carla concocted the story that the father was the fictitious Captain Eddie Campbell, who was killed in action. But Carla's deceptions are about to be exposed when she finds out that all three soldiers are returning to her village with their wives and children for a reunion of the squadron. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This epic Spanish biopic chronicles the life of Cervantes, Spain's great novelist, playwright and poet, during the 16th-century, when as a young man he goes to Italy to become a soldier for the Pope. Later he helps the Pope's emissary wage war against the Spanish Moors. His exploits win him great favor. He falls in love with a famous Italian courtesan and she with him. Unfortunately, the Pope splits them apart with his newest decree which demands that all prostitutes leave the city. Upset, Cervantes goes to fight in the famed sea battle of Lepanto and comes back a hero. Later he is captured by Barbary pirates and ransomed by Trinitarian friars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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

This French/Italian comedy was originally released as La Bellezza di Ippolita, and was also distributed as Beautiful Ippolita and She Got What She Asked For. Gina Lollobrigida plays an ex-chorus girl who weds wealthy Enrico Maria Salerno. Though he must be insane to do so, Salerno begins cheating on her. She plans a tit-for-tat revenge, with predictable but amusing results. Regrettably, La Lollo is seen only in black and white. The American print of Curves in the Road, released two years after its completion, was slightly trimmed to appease the censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Four of Falcon Crest is dominated by a storyline involving "The Cartel", a widespread criminal organization headed by war criminal Gustav Riebmann (J. Paul Freeman)--who turns out to have been the former lover of Jacqueline Perrault, the late mother of Tuscany Valley winery owner Chase Roberti (Robert Foxworth) and Chase's half-brother, ruthless newspaper owner Richard Channing (Doug Selby). While the upright Chase has no connection with The Cartel, Richard had spent the previous season conspiring with Riebmann to construct a race track on land owned by Chase's business partner, aunt, and principal antagonist Angela Channing (Jane Wyman). Angela holds Chase responsible for the death of her lawyer and fiancé Phillip Erikson, but Richard knows that the Cartel did the dirty work, and his knowledge may very well lead to his own demise. In other developments this season, Angela manages to take control of Richard's newspaper, the "San Francisco Globe", appointing her playboy grandson Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) as editor. When someone tries to murder Angela, Richard attempts to frame Lance for the crime. And later on, Richard assumes one-third control of Angela's Falcon Crest winery with the help of Angela's vengeful Italian half-sister, Francesca Gioberti (Gina Lollobrigida). This being Falcon Crest, Francesca is not content with merely grabbing up a portion of Falcon Crest; she has a long-standing grudge against the Channing family, and won't be satisfied until everyone in the clan is left twisting slowly in the wind! With all this going on, it is amazing that any time is left over for another of the season's principal plot strands, this one involving the breakup of Lance's marriage to Melissa Agretti (Ana Alicia) and the dissolution of the union between Cole Gioberti (William R. Moses) and Linda Caproni (Mary Kate McGheehan)--leading inexorably to the wedding of Cole and Melissa (who, after all, ARE the parents of Angela's great-grandson Joseph). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The leading lady of the Italian Mad About Opera was billed in the English-language prints as Lollo Brigida. By the time the film was reissued in the mid-1950s, this gaffe had been corrected, and Gina Lollobrigida received proper screen credit. The story details the misadventures of a group of Italians living in London who hope to stage a musical concert. The proceeds will go to the restoration of a church which was destroyed during the Blitz. Spearheading the project is journalist Carlo Scala (Carlo Campanini), who must overcome some pretty formidable opposition to realize his goal. The final reels of Mad About Opera are given over to such powerhouse musical talents as Tito Gobbi, Gino Bechi, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia and the La Scala Corps de Ballet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide