Giulio Marchetti Movies

Vittorio De Sica delivers a full-blown comic performance as Cesare Celli, an American gangster exiled to Italy and kidnapped by a collection of inept crooks. These incompetents are headed by Harry Price (Robert Wagner), who demands a ransom from Cesare's friends for his safe return. When none of Cesare's friends send money to rescue Cesare from the kidnappers, Cesare is outraged and concocts a scheme for a five-million-dollar platinum robbery as a way to pay Harry's gang back for their efforts and to get his revenge on a world that has ignored him. Cesare trains his collection of nincompoops for the robbery and imports the famed Professor Samuels (Edward G. Robinson) to plan the heist. After a series of problems raising the money for the robbery and obligatory bumblings by the gang, Cesare and his men are ready to proceed with the heist. But then, right before the robbery, Harry and his girlfriend, Juliana (Raquel Welch), decide to betray Cesare and abscond with the platinum themselves. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Producer/director Roger Corman briefly abandoned Edgar Allan Poe for The Secret Invasion, a commendable attempt to make a war epic on a "B" budget. The story is a scaled-down precursor to The Dirty Dozen: Five criminals are given a chance at a pardon by agreeing to participate in a suicide mission for British Intelligence. They are smuggled into Yugoslavia (where this film was made) to conduct several commando raids against the Nazi invaders. The quintet is comprised of veterans of internationally-produced war films: Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Henry Silva (observe the cast and guess who gets killed first). Corman's skill at generating excitement through quick cutting and careful camera composition is given an exhilarating workout in The Secret Invasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a typical costume drama and adventure story with plenty of fencing, and swash and buckle but not much ingenuity. Based on a story by Anthony Marshall, a swordsman by the name of Thomas Stanwood (Stewart Granger) finds himself fending off a multitude of attackers before he is captured and realizes he was defending himself against the very duke, Don Carlos (Riccardo Garrone), that he is supposed to be helping. The Duke overlooks the mistake and puts Thomas to guard his intended spouse, Orietta Arconti (Sylvia Koscina). She is a cold, arrogant woman who immediately antagonizes Thomas -- until he begins to realize a few things. Orietta's father was killed by the Duke when he took over their city, so how could she really be on the side of Don Carlos? As certain as night follows day, Thomas and Orietta are going to make an unbeatable pair when it comes to righting the wrongs of the past. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this Italian costume epic chronicles the exploits of an innocent maiden who lives near Thebes. She is in love with a sculptor but cannot marry him when a high-ranking reveals that he is her father and that she was betrothed at birth to a mentally ill prince slated to soon take over the country. The father then hands down a death sentence for the sculptor, but fortunately he escapes to find the prince, who happens to be a friend of his. There he asks for and is granted a pardon. Time passes and the prince becomes king; meanwhile, the maiden undergoes a ritual purification and changes her name to "Nefertiti." The sculptor is now with a gypsy. Unfortunately, he is again imprisoned by Nefertiti's father who threatens to kill him unless his unwilling daughter marries the new king. After the wedding, the sculptor does a bust of his beloved, and she tells him that while she still loves him, she fears for her husband's mind if she leaves. Her manipulative father is well aware of the king's instability and is hoping that eventually he will have all the power. To get closer, he kills the king's best friend, a rival priest, which pushes the king to suicide. Suddenly Nefertiti becomes queen. With the sculptor's help, she rallies the army and wins her power. In the end, the jilted gypsy gets her revenge by killing Nefertiti's father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The official credits for the Italian-made Stranger on the Prowl read: "written and directed by Andrea Forzano." In truth, Andrea Forzano was two people: screenwriter Ben Barzman and director Joseph Losey, both of whom had been blacklisted by Hollywood and were forced to work under pseudonyms. Essentially a two-person character study, the film stars Paul Muni as a down-and-out crook on the lam. Muni befriends a young street urchin (Vittorio Mazzunchelli, billed as "Manunta" in many prints) in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, Muni tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for Muni (who is wanted for murder), the police pursue the two lost souls. Muni sees to it that the boy manages to escape, but is himself gunned down. A weak-tea imitation of the Italian neorealist movement, Stranger on the Prowl was cut by 18 minutes for its English-language release (in Britain it was titled Encounter). The full, original 100-minute Italian version, released in 1951, was known as Imbarco a Mezzanote. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide