Amedeo Nazzari Movies
Italian leading man Amedeo Nazzari entered films in 1935, hitting his stride three years later as the title character in Luciano Serra, Pilot. At his peak, he made up to five films per year, few of which lost money. He gently chided his virile, romantic screen image as the self-absorbed movie star in Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). Few of Nazzari's Italian-starring vehicles were widely distributed in the U.S., though he was a familiar character actor in such international productions as The Best of Enemies (1961) and The Valachi Papers (1972); he also occasionally functioned as a producer and screenwriter. Amedeo Nazzari was the father of actress Evalina Nazzari. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
This exciting adventure provides an interesting look into the manufacture and trafficking of opium and heroin. The original story was written by Ian Fleming who died shortly before he was to pen the screenplay. The story is set in Iran and opens as an American undercover agent is murdered in the desert while attempting to buy opium. Two more agents are sent to Teheran to investigate the death and stop the powerful drug ring behind the smuggling. Once there, they run into the dead agent's girlfriend, who soon after suddenly disappears. Unfortunately, they cannot find her and so focus on their other job. To figure out where the drugs are going (and hopefully get a lead on the missing girl) they steal a bunch of opium and lace it with radioactive tracers so they can track it with Geiger counters. They then follow the drugs as they are slowly dispersed throughout Europe. After many twists, turns and blind alleys, the agents eventually succeed. This film was originally made for TV and contains cameos from many stars who worked for little pay because they strongly supported its anti-drug message. Those stars include Grace Kelly (who introduces the film) Omar Sharif, E.G. Marshall, Eli Wallach, Marcello Mastrioanni, and many more. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Senta Berger, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1964
Maruchelli (Amedeo Nazzari) is an Italian expatriate who has made his fortune in Argentina. When he throws a lavish party to impress his Italian guests, his stone-faced friend Stefano (Nino Manfredi) feels the sting of not being as successful as his host. Vittorio Gassman co-stars with Silvana Pampanini in this contrasting social comedy drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1963
Italian nuns raise a quiet ruckus to stop a major airline from flying over their village in this gentle comedy. They are upset because the noise from the jets creates a vibration that is threatening to crumble a much-revered ancient fresco. It also interferes with the quiet of their cloistered lives and so the Mother superior and two of her underlings journey to Rome to have a chat with the owner of the airline. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Spaak, Sylva Koscina, (more)
- 1962
In this military comedy, Maj. Richardson (David Niven) and Lt. Burke (Michael Wilding) are two British soldiers on a recognizance mission over Ethiopia in 1941 when their plane crashes in the desert. Capt. Blasi (Alberto Sordi), an Italian officer, finds the Englishmen and offers to help them: he'll let them go if they allow him and his men to take over an old fort nearby and stay there without being bothered. Richardson and Burke agree, and they return to their base of operations, only to discover that they've been ordered to attack the fort and capture Blasi and his men. Richardson considers himself a man of his word and doesn't care for this duty; in time, the two men become friends and exchange banter as they take turns capturing one another. Remarkably enough, Italian actor Alberto Sordi didn't speak English when he made this film, and he learned all his dialogue phonetically. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Alberto Sordi, (more)
- 1961
Three mining engineers are marooned in the Sahara after their helicopter crashes and end up finding a secret doorway to the lost city of Atlantis where they capture the fancy of a ruthless Egyptian queen. She manages to seduce one of the men with her magic, but the other two meet grim fates after attempting to escape. Meanwhile, a beautiful slave falls for the mesmerized engineer and endeavors to help him escape. She must hurry for she knows that testing of an atom bomb at a neighboring test site above ground is about to commence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
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
- 1960
In this occasionally amusing frolic, Gina Lollobrigida plays a sexy widow who returns to Italy from New York following the death of her husband. Her wealth and good looks entice all the men in her small village except for the one she really wants, the town blacksmith (Dale Robertson). Giuseppe Rotunno's warm cinematography and the irresistible Lollobrigida make this one worth seeing, while the screenplay (by Ettore Margadonna, Luciana Corda, and Joseph Stefano) manages to be clever without being smirky. Look for a funny bit by Vittorio DeSica, who supervised some scenes, as a loquacious priest. This film is also known as both Anna of Brooklyn and Fast and Sexy. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Dale Robertson, (more)
- 1959
The slow pacing of this fanciful tale about the life and one reputed love of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya makes for an uneven drama. Anthony Franciosa is the artist, and Ava Gardner plays his paramour, the Duchess of Alba. While the Prime Minister of Spain schemes to betray his country to Napoleon's forces and the Spanish Inquisition is winding to a close (overplayed here) Goya is trying to survive the pangs of love he feels for the aloof Duchess. In reality, the artist was seriously ill during this period -- in the last decade of the 18th century -- and actually went deaf. But reality is set aside for high romance, as the pair of star-crossed lovers take center stage over art and politics. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ava Gardner, Anthony Franciosa, (more)
- 1959
This Spanish film was officially inspired by the Prosper Merimee novel (and Bizet opera) Carmen. Instead of working in a cigarette factory, however, Carmen (Sarita Montiel) has become a cabaret singer. She and her lover, Napoleonic sergeant Jose (Maurice Ronet), end up joining a Spanish resistance movement fronted by Antonio (George Mistral), leading to a story marked by tragedy and betrayal, just like the Merimee original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarita Monteil, Jorge Mistral, (more)
- 1959
Labyrinth by director Rolf Thiele is aptly titled, since viewers may find the story itself labyrinthian, in that it is hard to figure out where it is going. The setting is a mental institution in Switzerland with a caseload of inmates battling alcoholism with varying degrees of success or failure. The one component that all the patients share is economic and social status, since the clinic does not come free. One of the inmates is an American writer hooked on the bottle and plagued by severe depression. Her case is central to the story. She fights a losing battle against her illness until one tragic event at the institution shakes her out of her depression and sets her on the road back to health. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nadja Tiller, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1958
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
- 1954
Les Revoltes de Lomanch was France's first widescreen feature presentation. Set in the Vendee region shortly after the French Revolution, the film re-creates the uprising of a group of noblemen against the newly empowered proletariat. The hero, Barnaud (Amedeo Nazzari), is a revolutionary who has his own intensely personal reasons for putting down the aristocrat's rebellion. The heroine, Monique (Dany Robin), is a high-born woman who was once Barnaud's lover. This is the sort of story that is considered profound because everybody dies at the end; whether profound or not, it certainly is exciting. When originally released, Les Revoltes de Lomanch was decked out with stereophonic sound. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dany Robin, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1954
Proibito (Forbidden) is based on Grazia Deledda's Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Mother. Mel Ferrer stars as Don Pablo, a priest who returns to his provincial home in Sardegna. Here he discovers to his dismay that a centuries-old feud between two families is still raging. Don Pablo hopes to bring peace to the community, but his task seems insurmountable. Meanwhile, the priest's childhood friend Agnese (Lea Massari) secretly continues to harbor a stronger affection for Don Pablo than she should. Even those critics who were cool to the stars and plotline of Proibito were bowled over by the Technicolor cinematography of Aldo Tonti. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1953
Anna Zaccheo (Silvana Pampanini) is desperate for true love. Alas, Anna is so gorgeous that true love is the last thing most men have on their minds. She manages to get by with the help of several wealthy male friends, until finally she meets the man of her dreams -- a poverty-stricken sailor (Massimo Girotti). Their relationship goes along swimmingly (literally, at one point), until the sailor learns about Anna's checkered past. Just when it looks like a happy ending is on the horizon, a miracle (the sort that happens in movies) comes to pass. Un Marito per Anna Zaccheo is a rare exercise in pure romanticism from Bitter Rice director Giuseppe DeSantis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1953
Tormento is right. Anna Ferrari (Yvonne Sanson) is thrown out of her home by her nasty stepmother. She moves in with boyfriend Carlo Guarnieri (Amedeo Nazzari), intending to marry him. While awaiting the birth of their child, Carlo is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. A long prison sentence threatens the legitimacy of Anna's child. Will this dilemma be solved in time, or will Anna be forever stigmatized? An expertly assembled "soap opera," Tormento arrived in the U.S. with surprisingly few censorial excisions; the TV prints, however, are considerably shorter than the theatrical version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amedeo Nazzari, Yvonne Sanson, (more)
- 1952
Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, (more)
- 1952
Catastrophe results from a love triangle. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleonora Rossi-Drago, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1952
Alida Valli delivers one of her finest performances in the Italian Ultimo Incontro. Based on La Biondina, a 19th-century suspense novel by Marco Praga, the script has been updated to the Milan of 1951. Valli plays Lina, the faithless wife of wealthy Piero (Amadeo Nazzari). After entering into an affair with race-car driver Michele (Jean Pierre Aumont), Lina is blackmailed into selling her sexual services to others. Eventually, she is hired to satisfy the desires of -- guess who? The operatic denouement seems less hokey than it is, thanks to the combined skills of star Alida Valli and director Gianni Franciolini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alida Valli, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1952
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
- Starring:
- Aldo Fabrizi, Enzo Staiola, (more)
