Amedeo Nazzari Movies

Lancieri di Savola (Savoy Lancers) is a ponderous costume drama, elevated somewhat by the performances of stars Elisa Cegani and Amedeo Nazari. Cegani plays Countess Speranza, who has never gotten over the fact that her family forbade her to marry the love of her life, dashing Lancer Lieutenant Solaro (Nazari). Circumstance and coincidence throw the Countess and the lieutenant back together from time to time, but since she is now the wife of a baron, the best she can hope for is a furtive, clandestine relationship. After Solaro is killed in WWI, the Countess remains forever faithful to the memory of her lost love. Top-heavy with symbolism, Lancieri di Savoia seems to go on for years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this Italian film translates as Fireworks, and indeed what happens in the course of the story is quite explosive at times. Amedeo Nazzari stars as a handsome young count who, after several years in New York, returns to Italy with nary a lire to his name. The villagers in his home town believe that the Count is still wealthy, thus they extend him unlimited credit upon his return. Mario Porelli co-stars as the Count's secretary, who takes advantage of the villagers' generosity to make a fortune in the stock market, thereby replenishing our hero's family coffers. The Count is also able to avoid a marriage to a rich but homely heiress and find happiness with his true love. The film was based on a popular stage farce by Luigi Charelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Given the fact that America was still technically at war with Italy in mid-1943, it is surprisingly that Tu M'Ami-to T'Amo would find its way into American movie theatres. Released stateside as Her First Love, the film serves as a showcase for the luminescent Alida Valli. She plays a high-school student who falls in love with a much-older doctor (Amedeo Nazzari). Returning her affections, the doctor writes up several medical "excuses" for the girl, allowing her to skip school and spend her time with him. Once they're married, however, the bloom is off the rose so far as romance is concerned. Filmed several years before its American release, Tu M'Ami-To T'Amo was distributed in the U.S. via a South American film firm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Italian Fedora was based on the Victorien Sardou play of the same name. Luisa Forida plays the title character, who falls in love neither wisely nor well with Russian painter Loris (Amedeo Nazzari). Osvaldo Valenti is seen as the irresponsible Count Vladimir, to whom Fedora has been promised in marriage. Though the story is a tragic one, audiences were so taken by the opulence of the production and the magnificence of Umberto Giordano's musical score that the impact of the unhappy ending was considerably softened. American critics were much taken by Fedora, noting that the film lacked the ponderous pretentious of most like-vintage European costume dramas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful crime drama, two conniving crooks continually double-cross each other. Eventually their victim comes back to get revenge upon them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When an impoverished but devoted Italian wife's husband falls ill and she is forced to take his place in a dangerous smuggling operation, she finds her will tested as she makes her way through the harsh landscape towards the French border in director Giorgio Pastina's downbeat drama. As night falls and Alina braves the brutal winter in hopes of making the delivery without incident, her grim situation turns dire when a brutish smuggler named Marco claims the beautiful young courier as his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1946 as Il Bandido, The Bandit came to the U.S. in 1949 on the strength of the worldwide popularity of star Anna Magnani. The title character is Ernesto (Amadeo Nazzari), who turns to crime after suffering shell shock during WW II. Magnani plays Ernesto's faithful girlfriend Lydia. Their relationship is as foredoomed as Ernesto himself, who comes to grief through an extreme act of self-sacrifice. The Bandit was the third directorial effort of Alberto Lattuada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Donne e Briganti (Women and Bandits) was the second of two Mario Soldati-directed films released in Europe during the last week of June, 1951 (the first was Je Suis de la Revue). Set in the early 19th century, the film recounts the Robin Hood-like adventures of bandit Michele Pezza (Amedeo Nazzari), better known as Fra Diavolo. This same character was depicted along more villainous lines in the famous 1830 opera by Auber, which was filmed in 1933 as The Devil's Brother, with Dennis King in the title role and Laurel and Hardy as comic relief. In Donne e Briganti, Fra Diavolo is his own comic relief, his tongue firmly in cheek as he robs from the rich, gives to the poor, and takes time out to romance his wife Marietta (Maira Mauban) and mistress Flora (Jacqueline Pierreux). According to this film, Fra Diavolo was also something of a patriot, opposing the invading forces of France. Sumptuously produced, Donne e Briganti falters only in the indecisive camera work by Mario Montuori. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

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