Ave Ninchi Movies

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

French filmmaker Rene Clement's international reputation was secured with Au Dela des Grilles. A French-Italian production, the film sagaciously teamed the most popular stars of each nation: France's Jean Gabin and Italy's Isa Miranda. Gabin is cast as a murderer who escapes prosecution by stowing away on a ship. Suffering from a toothache, he disembarks in Italy in search of a dentist, only to have his few possessions stolen. This setback leads to an extended emotional interlude involving Gabin, a waitress (Miranda) and the waitress' daughter (Andrea Checchi). While keeping in line with the realistic nature of Clement's postwar films, Au Dela des Grilles harks back to the more lyrical style of his prewar efforts. Released in English-speaking countries as Behind the Barriers and The Walls of Malapaga, Au Dela des Grilles won the 1948 "Best Foreign Film" Academy Award, and also earned Clement the "Best Director" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Constance Dowling, the American actress who gained international celebrity through her appearance in the Italian film Bitter Rice, is the villainess in Duel Without Honor. The heroine is Annette Bach, who renounces convent life to move back in with her banker father (Massimo Girotti). Unfortunately papa has a mistress (Dowling), who takes an immediate dislike to Bach. After being caught with another man, the mistress is hounded out of the house, later to die alone. Thus only Ms. Bach and Mr. Girotti survive long enough for the (presumably) happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reno Davis (George Peppard) is an American writer who has retired from the gentle art of boxing. Now wandering through France, he takes a job as a tutor for the son of a wealthy widow. Anne de Villemont (Inger Stevens) employs Reno to help in the education of her son Paul (Barnaby Shaw). Reno is led to believe Anne's husband was a French general killed in the Algerian conflict. He is puzzled over Anne's fears that her eight-year-old son will be kidnapped. Reno discovers the family has ties to a fascist organization that plans to takeover France, Algeria and finally, all of Europe. He contends with the shady psychiatrist Morillon (Keith Michell) and mysterious family friend Leschenhaut (Orson Welles), both of whom scare Anne whenever they are around. Reno is framed for his best friend's murder as he and Anne become the targets of the ambitious and maniacal schemers who wish to rule the entire European continent. Reno and Anne escape by car and plane, dodging bullets and kidnap attempts as they try to protect Paul from being abducted. The chase ends at the Coliseum in Rome, where Reno and the villains engage in a showdown in this gripping, mysterious crime thriller. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1947, Alberto Lattuada's Flesh Will Surrender was released in the U.S. three years later. The film was adapted from a Gabriele d'Annunzio novel by three of Italy's top postwar scenarists: Suso Cecchi, Federico Fellini and Pietro Tellini. Aldo Fabrizi stars as Giovanni Episcopo, a mild-mannered clerk who makes several fatal mistakes. The first is to associate himself with a notorious forger (Ronaldo Lupi); the second is to marry the forger's ex-mistress (Yvonne Sanson). Disgraced, financially ruined and ostracized, Giovanni's only solace is the love of his faithful son (played by Fabrizi's real-life son Amedeo). The hero's tragedy is not that he's a bad man, but that he's too good for his own good. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The four young women work at the same place and each has to put up with a lecherous supervisor who talks out of one side of his mouth about good morals while the other side has the opposite message. One of the women, Jane (Bernadette Lafont) fixes herself up in a somewhat vulgar manner and goes out to pick up men, which fails to produce any real love. Another wants to marry a man whose family runs a respectable store. Another sings -- incognito -- with a pop band, while the last, Jacqueline (Clothilde Joano) is pursued by a biker. The film details their doomed attempts to find romance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Parigi e Sempre Parigi (Paris is Always Paris) was the second feature-length effort from famed Italian documentary director Luciano Emmer. Whereas Emmer's first feature, Domenica d'Agosto (Sunday in August) was a warm-hearted study of the Italian middle class, Parigi concentrates on a gentle cultural clash between a band of Italian sports fans and the citizenry of Paris. The hero, DeAngelis (Aldo Fabrizi), has heard so much about "naughty Paree" that he's determined to experience that naughtiness first hand. This plot device, of course, obliges the director to introduce several delectable French mademoiselles in the proceedings. Ultimately, DeAngelis realizes that reports of French libertinism have been grossly exaggerated, but he has a high old time finding this out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A year after Get Carter (1971), director Mike Hodges and star Michael Caine reunited for this comic crime thriller. Caine stars as Mickey King, a writer of cheap paperback detective novels, living in Rome and cranking one noir book after another. King is approached by Ben Dinuccio (Lionel Stander) and offered an abnormally large sum to ghost write the autobiography of a mystery celebrity. The intrigued King agrees and is transported to a remote island where he meets his subject, Preston Gilbert (Mickey Rooney), a one-time movie star known for playing gangsters and notorious for hanging out with real-life mobsters off the set (a sly jab at Frank Sinatra and George Raft). Now dying of cancer, Gilbert wants King to jot down his life story before he dies. Although he's an abusive jerk, Gilbert's had an interesting life and King sets about getting it all down on paper, but then the star is murdered at a party, leaving King with no conclusion to his tale. Playing detective like the heroes of his stories, King pieces together a mystery involving Gilbert's past, his ex-wife, a transvestite who's supposed to be dead, and an Italian prince running for office. Though largely dismissed at the time of its release by fans and critics disappointed at its dissimilarity to Get Carter, Pulp (1972) was championed by a few and became something of a cult favorite over subsequent decades. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is better known by its English-language title Three Little Girls from Rome. The girls in question are Marisa, Elena and Lucia, played respectively by Lucia Bose, Cosetta Greco and Liliana Bonfatti. All three work in a fancy Roman house of fashion, and all three have aspirations beyond the confines of their current work. Eventually Marisa becomes a top fashion model, but at the expense of her personal happiness. Elena has her heart broken by her bookkeeper boyfriend. And Lucia flits from romance to romance, eventually "landing" on a race-horse jockey. There's more to the story than this, of course, but to reveal more would spoil the viewer's enjoyment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Teresa, director Fred Zinnemann adopts the same quasi-documentary approach he'd used in The Search (1948). Lensed on location in Italy and New York, the film introduces Pier Angeli in the title role, and co-stars three male newcomers: John Ericson, Ralph Meeker and Rod Steiger. Teresa is the Italian bride of GI Philip (Ericson), who is established from the outset as mentally disturbed. Taking Teresa home with him to New York, Philip begins to crack under the pressure of married life -- not to mention the angst brought to bear by his highly dysfunctional family. A happy ending doesn't seem likely under these circumstances, but there's always hope. The best scene in Teresa occurs during an fateful visit to Coney Island. Featured in the cast is political cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who'd subsequently co-star in John Huston's Red Badge of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Audrey Hepburn stars in The Nun's Story as Sister Luke, postulant of a Belgian order of nuns. Though frequently disillusioned in her efforts to spread good will -- at one point she is nearly killed by a mental patient (Colleen Dewhurst) -- Sister Luke perseveres. Sent as a nurse to the Belgian Congo, an assignment she'd been hoping for, Sister Luke is disappointed to learn that she will not be ministering to the natives but to European patients. Through the example of no-nonsense chief surgeon Peter Finch, the nun sheds her idealism and becomes a diligent worker -- so much so that she contracts tuberculosis. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Sister Luke tries to honor the edicts of her order and not take sides, but this becomes impossible when her father (Dean Jagger) is killed by the Nazis. Realizing that she cannot remain true to her vows, Sister Luke leaves the order and returns to "civilian" life. The Nun's Story ends with a long, silent sequence in which Sister Luke divests herself of her religious robes, dons street garb, and walks out to an uncertain future. There is no background music: director Fred Zinnemann decided that "triumphant" music would indicate that Sister Luke's decision was the right one, while "tragic" music would suggest that she is doing wrong. Rather than make an editorial comment, the director decided against music, allowing the audience members to fill in the blanks themselves. The Nun's Story is based on the book by Kathryn Hulme, whose depiction of convent life was a lot harsher and more judgmental than anything seen in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide