Maria Mercader Movies

In the hippie era, the motto used to be "never trust anyone over 30." In this geriatric romance, the motto might be amended to read "never trust anyone under 60." Still sprightly and interested in life though they are in their 70s, the two lovers in this film are confined in an unsympathetic "rest home" by their relatives and are only able to meet rarely in a camper loaned to them by some black immigrant workers. When the staff at the home get wind of their affair, they take vigorous action to try and "calm them down" simply to reassert their deadening control over them. Eventually the two of them end their romance, but the woman escapes the rest home and finds freedom in the company of the immigrants. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this sympathetic biography of Claretta Petacci, Benito Mussolini's mistress of 10 years, the Petacci family is a primary source of information -- which introduces a definite bias on how she is viewed. Claretta met Mussolini in the mid-'30s and remained with him after he was dismissed in 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel (American and Allied forces invaded Sicily and started north to Rome at that time). Claretta's family also fled to the north, where Mussolini was set up in a puppet dictatorship by the Germans until the end of the war. Photographs of Mussolini and Claretta hanging from a gas-station pole in 1945 while crowds stare at their bodies were disseminated worldwide, yet information on them has been kept in the classified files of the Italian government. In this docudrama, Claretta is played by Claudia Cardinale and Claretta's younger sister Miriam Petacci, still alive in 1984, plays herself as she "meets" with a television reporter (Catherine Spaak) at Claretta's tomb to talk about her famous sister's life. Claretta and Mussolini (Gabriele D'Annunzio) first get together on the estate of a poet who supported Mussolini and were not separated once they became lovers. U.S. Army newsreels add verisimilitude to the story, but the script is too superficial and the treatment too overtly sentimental to sustain interest and may even alienate some viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Heart and Soul is actually an Italian variation on Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Vittorio de Sica plays a provincial schoolmaster, much beloved by his past and present students. We follow De Sica as he stands steadfastly at his post throughout the years, during which time he is aided and abetted by his adoring assistant teacher Maria Mercader. Emphasis is given to the war years, when De Sica is suspended for his political beliefs. Though Vittorio De Sica is frequently credited as the director of Heart and Soul, that responsibility was in the hands of Duilio Coletti. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The King's Jester is a non-musical Italian film version of the tragic opera Rigoletto. While we hear no vocal renditions of "Caro Nome" and "La Donna e Mobile", those songs, along with the rest of Verdi's score, can be heard as incidental music. French character actor Michel Simon stars as the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto, whose thirst for revenge motivates the story. When Rigoletto's daughter Gilda (Maria Mecarder) is seduced by the Count, the jester plots to set up the nobleman to be killed--but it is the long-suffering Gilda who ends up the victim of Rigoletto's machinations. Exceptionally well photographed by Ubaldo Arata, The King's Jester was a success in both Italy and the US, where it was sometimes run under its original title Rigoletto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A romantic tragedy in which two teenagers are kept apart because of indiscretions by their ancestors. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide