Giovanna Ralli Movies

When the rudely lower-class felon Orfeo escapes from prison, he hardly expects to wind up hiding in the lap of luxury, cosseted and loved by a pampered woman of the upper classes. However, that is just what happens in this Italian social comedy. His wealthy protectress Elena keeps him safely locked away in an attic room as her own personal erotic plaything. Elena's husband Fabio doesn't take this insult to his manhood standing still, and the resulting conflict does not bode well. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this limp western melodrama, when Mexican bandit Hector Cordoba (Raf Vallone) attacks a U.S. Army fort a few miles from the Mexican border, General John Pershing (John Russell) orders Captain Rod Douglas (George Peppard) to organize a group of soldiers to cross the border into Mexico to capture Cordoba and to bring him back to the U.S. for trial. When Douglas's band cross into Mexico, Douglas meets Leonora (Giovanna Ralli), a beautiful Mexican woman raped by Cordoba, who agrees to lead the Americans to Cordoba's stronghold. But Leonora is not entirely trustworthy, and when the Americans reach the fort, Cordoba takes them prisoners. Now, the Americans must escape from Cordoba's clutches and make it back to the other side of the border. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this clunky suspense film, straining to be Hitchcockian, Michael Caine plays recovered alcoholic Henry Clarke, who finds himself enticed into the home of Fe Moreau (Giovanna Ralli), where he discovers an unusual arrangement -- apparently Fe Moreau would rather engage in a relationship with an ex-alcoholic than her husband Richard (Eric Portman). Seems Richard is an out-of-the-closet homosexual, complete with a young Spanish stud (Carlos Pierre) as a plaything. The staid home life heats up to a boil when the three misfits decide to steal jewels from a rich playboy. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Career bank robber Peter Churchman Stephen Boyd plans to retire from his life of crime and live the good life in this uninspired crime thriller. He is blackmailed by Angela Tresler Giovanna Ralli into pulling off one last heist of some precious jewels located in the bank in Pamplona, Spain. Peter and three accomplices must steal the jewels during the annual running of the bulls. The festival atmosphere will hopefully allow them to pull off the crime, but the bank is located directly across the street from the local police station. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this service comedy set during World War II, Capt. Cash (Dick Shawn) and Lt. Christian (James Coburn) are given orders to invade a small but strategically important village in Sicily. To their surprise, none of the natives offer the slightest resistance to the Americans taking over their town, who present only one stipulation -- the main event on the town's annual social calendar, a football match followed by a wine festival, is scheduled to happen in a few days. If the Americans would be kind enough to let them have their party, they'll hand over the town without a fight. Cash and Christian think that this plan sounds reasonable enough, and a few days later they and their men are drunkenly whooping it up with the townspeople when both German and U.S. surveillance planes spot the festivities. Thinking the wild party looks more like some sort of battle, both the Germans and Americans make plans to send in troops. Screenwriter William Peter Blatty would enjoy greater success a few years down the line with The Exorcist, a novel about a different sort of conflict. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This unlikely, somewhat clichéd European "western" by Robert Hossein (scripter, director, and lead) is set in an unnamed Latin American country suffering under a dictator. A revolution is underway, or at least there is a strong guerrilla movement here. The leader of the guerrillas manages to capture the daughter of the dictator and then has to take her as a captive back to the revolutionary forces' base. Along the way, the two exchange heated glances, not all stemming from anger. By the time they reach rebel headquarters, they are in love. Now the guerrilla leader has trouble on his hands because the men underneath have their own plans for his captive, none of which entails keeping the new couple together. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In keeping with his previous film Generale Della Rovere, filmmaker Robert Rossellini pursues a wartime theme in his 145-minute "personal epic" Era Notte a Roma. The story concerns three Allied POWS, who escape from their camp and hide out in Rome. The trio is given shelter by a beautiful young woman. With something tangible to fight over, the three prisoners' national chauvinism (one is Russian, one English, one American) simmers to a boil. For reasons which remain obscure, Era Notte a Roma was never given a widespread American release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lucio Fulci's directorial debut was another showcase for famed Italian comedian Toto, but opened to rather lackluster performance at the box office. A Mafia chieftain (Armando Calvo) is deported back to Italy and smuggles his money out of America in hundreds of jars of jam, a plot uncovered by a dockworker who sets off a frenzied search for the money. Twenty years and scores of films later, Fulci finally attracted cult stardom with Zombie, setting off a three-year period that also produced the director's best-known works, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, and House by the Cemetery. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi