Anna Maria Alberghetti Movies

Documentary filmmaker George Zaloom takes his first stab at fiction with this comedy about a family dominated both literally and figuratively by explosive personalities. Pop Bazinni (Giancarlo Gianini) is an Italian expatriate who runs his family's fireworks business in New Jersey. After his son dies in a explosion in a storage shed, Pop needs a new second in command, and his cousin, Giovanni (Stanley Tucci), is sent from Italy to help with the business, though Giovanni was chosen less for his business acumen than because he needed a change of scenery after a messy breakup with his girlfriend, Maria (Jo Champa), has left him horribly depressed. As Giovanni learns the ropes of both the fireworks business and life in America, Val (Bridget Fonda), the young widow of Pop's late son, finds herself the focus of the loutish romantic advances of Joey Zito (Anthony DeSando), whose mother (Anna Maria Alberghetti) runs a rival fireworks company eager to find out the secret formulas behind the Bazinni's products. Talia Shire and Alexander Milani head up the film's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Dean Martin's first solo film after his split with Jerry Lewis was very nearly his last. Dino plays Ray Hunter, a Conrad Hiltonesque playboy hotelier at large in Rome. Taking charge of his latest acquisition -- a huge hotel with the titular 10,000 bedrooms -- Hunter finds himself being pursued by the daughters of wealthy Vittori Martelli (Walter Slezak). For a while, it looks as though the youngest daughter Nina (Anna Maria Alberghetti) has the inside track, but big-hearted Ray, realizing that Nina would be happier with a boy her own age, settles for older sister Maria (Eva Bartok). The poor box-office take for this old-fashioned musical comedy seemed at the time to foretell the end of Dean Martin's film career, but he was rescued by his well-received appearance in The Young Lions. The funniest aspect of Ten Thousand Bedrooms was its promotional trailer, narrated by Teddi Thurman, then famous as the sultry weather girl on the weekend radio series Monitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Republic super-production The Last Command is a partial remake of the same studio's Man of Conquest (1939). But whereas the earlier film concerned itself with the exploits of Texas patriot Sam Houston, Last Command concentrates on Houston associate James Bowie, played by Sterling Hayden. When Texas is threatened by the armies of Mexican general Santa Ana (J. Carrol Naish), Bowie at first adopts a policy of peaceful coexistence. When this proves impossible, Bowie joins Davy Crockett (played as an irascible old cuss by Arthur Hunnicut) and the rest of the courageous defenders of the Alamo. The climactic confrontation between the heroes of the Alamo and Santa Ana is long in coming, but well worth the wait. Frank Lloyd's large-scale direction and the vibrant musical score of Max Steiner imbues Last Command with a "major studio" aura not often found in Republic productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Here Comes the Groom was the second collaboration between director Frank Capra and star Bing Crosby. Though not as "socially relevant" as previous Capra productions, the film is a thoroughly likeable yarn about a happy-go-lucky newspaperman named Pete (Bing Crosby). In order to legally adopt a brace of war orphans, Pete must marry within a week. His plans to wed his longtime sweetheart Emmadel (Jane Wyman) come acropper when she, tired of waiting for him to pop the question, becomes engaged to wealthy Wilbur Stanley (Franchot Tone). Conspiring with Wilbur's cousin Winifred (Alexis Smith), Pete spends the balance of the film trying to win Emmadel back. From all accounts, the set of Here Comes the Groom was a happy one, the conviviality extending to Alexis Smith's willingness to be on the receiving end of several jokes concerning her height (she seems nearly a head taller than Crosby!). The film's best scene is the Bing Crosby-Jane Wyman duet "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," reportedly filmed in one take without post-dubbing. As a bonus, Here Comes the Groom introduces a bright new singing talent, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and is festooned with uncredited guest stars, ranging from Dorothy Lamour to Louis Armstrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide