Ettore Manni Movies
In films from 1951, Ettore Manni distinguished himself in roles of all varieties and sizes. During his first decade on the screen, he was often cast in costume epics, playing Marc Anthony in several films based on the life of Cleopatra and showing up in a number of Hercules pictures. In contemporary productions, he was frequently seen as a priest or law officer. Ettore Manni's final film, City of Women, was released posthumously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Roman couturier Clelia (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) leaves the big city to work at a boutique in Turin. She moves into a hotel and makes several new friends, but is soon drawn into their extremely unpleasant lives. Clelia enters a doomed relationship with a poor architect's assistant (Ettore Manni), sees her new best friend Rosetta (Madeleine Fischer) commit suicide after being jilted by her married lover (Gabriele Ferzetti), and is eventually fired from her new job when her hysteria over Rosetta's death interferes with her work. Clelia finally goes back to Rome, and viewers will not blame her a bit. Le Amiche, based on a 1949 article published in La Bella Estate ("Tre Donne Sole" by Cesare Pavese), is perhaps Michelangelo Antonioni's first great film. Juggling 10 characters with great aplomb, Antonioni and co-screenwriters Suso Cecchi D'Amico and Alba De Cespedes have created a rich, interlocking narrative which manages to rise above mere melodrama through careful attention to the ebb and flow of interpersonal relationships and a keen sense of balance. The fine supporting cast includes Valentina Cortese, Yvonne Furneaux, and Franco Fabrizi. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentina Cortese, Gabriele Ferzetti, (more)
- 1954
Italian director Pietro Francisci directed this 1954 drama about the fifth-century invasion of Rome by Attila the Hun. Anthony Quinn stars as the legendary barbaric King of the Huns who wreaked havoc upon Rome, threatening to topple the entire empire. Sophia Loren costars as Honoria, the beautiful young woman whose help is enlisted by Pope Leo I and may be the only person who can end Attila's rampage. Also starring Henri Vidal and Irene Papas, Attila, il flagello di Dio was released in the United States as Attila. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, (more)
In this Italian bedroom farce, the lusty "Queen of the Nile" is determined to be with her lover, Marc Antony, before he heads off to war. Unfortunately, she has been assigned a new guard. She made love to her previous guard and he ended up executed as had several guards before him. Her new guard does not know this. To see Marc, she has a slave girl impersonate her while she sneaks out. Upon her surreptitious return, she sees the guard making love to her double. The other guards are surprised to see the fellow alive the next day. He proves a useful fellow by saving the queen from a killer. He then saves the queen's imposter from the dungeon. Though the queen tries to seduce him, the guard finds life more appealing than love and demures. Instead he and the slave escape together where they make happy love for many years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
The English title of this Italian melodrama is Ship of Damned Women. After murdering her illegitimate baby, Isabella (Tania Weber) pins the blame on her innocent cousin Consuelo (May Britt). Despite the strenuous efforts of her attorney-lover DeSylva (Ettore Manni), Consuelo is found guilty and shipped to a penal colony along with several other female prisoners. En route, the women mutiny, and the ship is sunk. Among the few survivors are Consuelo, her attorney, and through an improbable coincidence, Isabella. Likewise improbable, though eminently satisfying, is the film's finale. Featured in the cast is craggy-faced character actor Eduardo Cianelli, who returned to his native Italy after nearly 20 years in Hollywood to make a handful of films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerima, Ettore Manni, (more)
- 1953
Originally released as Trattedella Blanche, Girls Marked Danger offers a voyeuristic glimpse at the subrosa world of 20th century white slavery. Veteran Hollywood heavy Marc Lawrence plays a vice lord who recruits innocent young Italian ladies for his nefarious purposes, on the pretext of hiring them to be cabaret dancers in South America. Despite the fact that none of Lawrence's "girls" ever return home, the new candidates suspect nothing as they sign up for the tour. Since the plot and outcome of Girls Marked Danger are predictable, the film justifies its 78-minute length by concentrating on the backgrounds of some of the unfortunate lasses. The most tragic of the ladies is played by Eleanora Rossi Drago, who is not only brutally beaten and mishandled, but ends up dying in childbirth. The nominal romantic lead is played by Sophia Loren, who tends to be upstaged on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren, (more)
- 1953
La Lupa (The She-Devil) was filmmaker Alberto Lattuada's first film after his classic The Overcoat. Based on a short story by Giovanni Verga, the film stars Kerima as the title character. Aptly named, La Lupa is a predatory female who considers every man she meets a potential conquest. When it seems as though Manni (Ettore Manni) will slip through her clutches, La Lupa arranges for a marriage between Manni and her own daughter Marrichia (May Britt). Eventually she is thrown out of that household, but does this slow her down? Not when there's a whole village full of bachelors, ripe for plucking. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Cavalleria Rusticana is adapted from the popular one-act play of the same name. Set in rural Sicily, the anecdotal story concerns a deserting soldier named Turiddu (Leonardo Cortese) who returns home to discover that his flirtatious sweetheart Lola (Doris Duranti) has married another. As consolation, Turiddu inaugurates a romance with Santuzza (Isa Pola), but before long he is carrying on an illicit relationship with Lola. The spurned Santuzza informs Lola's husband (Carlo Ninchi) of what's going on behind his back, and the result is a bloody duel. Written by Giovanni Verga, Cavalleria Rusticana had previously been transformed into an opera by Mascagni, whose music is absent from this adaptation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
