Isa Pola Movies
- 1952
Writer/director Francesco de Robertis' Angelo (1951), an affecting slice of neorealism, was an unexpected international success. The title character, played by non-professional Angelo Maggio, was the illegitimate offspring of an Italian woman and a black American GI. The film concentrated upon the woman's husband, an ex-convict who after virtually going to hell and back finds the capacity to forgive within himself. The 1952 sequel Angelo in the Crowd is every bit as compelling as the original. Still a remarkably unaffected performer, Angelo Maggio repeats his role. Now confined to a Catholic orphanage, Angelo slips away from his caretakers and heads to the streets of the city. Director DeMitri superbly conveys the wonders and terrors of a teeming Italian metropolis from a child's-eye view. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dante Maggio, Umberto Spadaro, (more)
- 1931
Canzon del L'Amore (Song of Love) was based on Silence, a novel by Luigi Pirandello. Hoping to save her mother from disgrace, Lucia (Dria Paola) takes it upon herself to raise her mom's illegitimate child. Not only does she insist upon keeping the child's parentage a secret, but Lucia also cuts herself off from her fiance so that she can devote all her time to surrogate motherhood. Ultimately, both the fiancee and the baby's father come back into her life offering to marry her, but she turns them both down. While the Pirandello original ends on an unhappy note, the film takes a more positive approach. A German-language version of Canzon Del L'Amore, Liebeslied, was filmed simultaneously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Pola
- 1947
A lesser but fascinating example of earthy postwar neorealism, Furia stars Isa Pola as Clara, the randy wife of horse-breeder Oreste (Gino Cervi). Whenever the opportunity presents itself, Clara cheats on her husband in the arms of Oreste's stud-keeper Antonio (Rossano Brazzi). Meanwhile, moronic stablehand Rocco (Umberto Spadaro) lusts after both Clara and Oreste's daughter by a previous marriage, the virginal Marietta (Adriana Bennetti). And meanwhile, Clara and Marietta jealousy vie for the attentions of Oreste, who spends most of his time trying to prove that his wife is an adulterer. At this point, the viewer will prognosticate that one or more of the characters will meet a bad end-and the viewer will be right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Pola, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
A very early Vittorio De Sica effort, The Children Are Watching Us was originally released in Italy as I Bambini Ci Guardano. Director De Sica collaborated with another neorealist pioneer, Cesare Zavattini, on the screenplay. The film, a real tearjerker, concerns a young mother (Isa Pola) who can't stand the pressures exerted on her by family responsibilities. She deserts her husband (Emilio Cigoli) and her brood, permanently ruining the life of her four-year-old son, Prico (Luciano de Ambrosis). Avoiding the rococo gestures and dramatic overstatement that might have attended this film had it been made in Hollywood, De Sica fashions a subtle tale about real people caught up in a real situation. De Sica's sensitivity toward the younger cast members of The Children Are Watching Us would manifest itself in many of his formative films, notably Sciuscià and The Bicycle Thief. Made in 1942, the film was not released in Italy until 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Cigoli, Isa Pola, (more)
- 1936
Le Scarpo al Sole (Alpine Love) takes place during WWI. The events depicted herein are based on the diaries of Italian captain Paolo Monelli, whose opinion of his army's efficiency was somewhat higher than that of his Allies. In true Hemingway fashion, the war in the Alps provides a backdrop for the romance between conscript Giuseppe Faoro (Camillo Pilotto) and a pretty schoolteacher (Nelly Corradi). This subplot is cut short when Faoro sacrifices his life to save his comrades. After this, Le Scarpo al Sole really doesn't have anywhere to go dramatically, though the scenery is lovely. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Camillo Pilotto, Nelly Corradi, (more)
- 1931
Though it was only his fourth film, Terra Madre demonstrated beyond question that director Allesandro Blassetti was in full control of his craft. Set several centuries back, the story concerns a feudal Duke who returns to his "terra madre" ("mother land," or homeland) to survey his property. The local peasantry welcome his arrival, little suspecting that the Duke has sold the land to another less-benign nobleman. The new owner forces the tenants off his land, whereupon they respond by setting fire to his palace. This prompts the Duke to come back, help extinguish the fire, and try to establish peace between the two warring factions. As long as he's back, the Duke also finds time to fall in love with a caretaker's daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria, Isa Pola, (more)
Leonora Ruffo is the exotically garbed title character in the Italian costume spectacle The Queen of Sheba. In the original Scriptures, Sheba and Israel's King Solomon merely exchanged gifts and parted company. Naturally, the filmmakers "improve" upon the story, with Prince Rehoboam (Gino Leurini), the handsome son of the ageing Solomon (Gino Cervi), falling in love with the Queen while he tries to ferret out Sheba's war plans. This results in a hot-and-heavy romantic triangle involving the Prince, the Queen, and someone named Princess Zymira (Marina Berti). All the usual Biblical-epic cliches are in attendance, including the heroine's obligatory milk bath. At one time a staple of American television Late Late Shows, The Queen of Sheba was temporarily withdrawn from circulation in 1959 to avoid competition with the Yul Brynner-Gina Lollobrigida starrer Solomon and Sheba. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonora Ruffo, Gino Leurini, (more)
- 1942
This film is the first western ever made in Italy. It tells the tale of a young saloon dancer who inadvertently gets romantically involved with the man who killed her husband and framed her recent lover. She accepts his advances until she learns the truth. She then returns to her lover and discovers that he has been married all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
