Saro Urzi Movies

Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), who learns for the first time about the family "business." A few months later at Christmas time, the don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones' political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny (James Caan), and family advisors Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) and Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda) that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible.

After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

This mildly amusing satire of Italian marital customs concerns a meek bank teller (Dustin Hoffman) who has an affair with pretty Carla Gravina, then learns that he is unable to get a divorce from his tiresome wife (Stefania Sandrelli). Hoffman learned his lines in Italian before making Alfredo, Alfredo, only to discover that it was being filmed in English and redubbed. Although it has its moments, the film has aged badly, particularly with regard to its views of women, who are portrayed as either sex kittens or shrews. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

In this mysterious crime drama, a down-and-out Parisian woman finds herself entangled in a white slavery-narcotics ring. They send her on a boat for South America. There she gets engaged to a sailor, and upon her arrival decides to fight against those who have enslaved her. She suffers terribly, but eventually she learns that the mysterious stranger who has been causing friction between rival rings is a clever Interpol agent on assignment to destroy the gang. This allows the woman to return to her beloved; happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A popular British comic strip series served as inspiration for this light-hearted espionage adventure, which if nothing else certainly shows the marks of its origins in the mid-1960s. A large departure for director Joseph Losey, better known for brooding interpretations of Harold Pinter works (The Servant, Accident), the film is emphatically bright and colorful, taking on at times a nearly psychedelic feel. The strangeness is emphasized by the unusual casting, including Italian star Monica Vitti in her first English-speaking role as the title character and Dirk Bogarde, playing against type as her arch-nemesis. Essentially everything is played for its camp value, including the rather convoluted, James Bond-like plot, which concerns the hijacking of a shipment of diamonds heading for the Middle East. Like its mod-era sets and costumes, this unusual, inconsistent effort is certainly intriguing and attractive, but might seem rather dated to some. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

In this French comedy, a clever fellow proves himself smarter than the gangsters who would exploit him. The trouble begins in Paris when the vacationing hero accidentally gets into an auto accident with a smuggler. The crook is most apologetic for the mishap and kindly offers to let him drive his Cadillac to Bordeaux and continue with his holiday. The poor traveler doesn't know that the vehicle is a black market on wheels carrying everything from jewels to heroine. He is pursued by the smuggler and by a rival gang. He is so busy enjoying himself that he doesn't bother to look back at the gun battles raging behind him. He ends up picking up two hitchhiking women and continuing his leisurely journey. When he finally realizes that they are using him, he drives the crooks right to the police station. Later he discovers that the steering wheel of the car contains the largest diamond in the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this summer drama, three young women take jobs as fruit pickers. One of them is a tease, one is a tough-girl, and one is incurably romantic. As they work in the summer's heat they find themselves increasingly attracted to their handsome co-workers. Hot love ensues as they all pair off. Unfortunately, their summer fun is spoiled by the death of one of the men. When not making love, the young people are involved in staging a successful strike. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Though generally successful, L'Uomo di Paglia (A Man of Straw) is hampered by two of director Pietro Germi's most characteristic creative shortcomings: overlength and oversimplification. Germi himself plays the leading role, a young husband and father named Andrea Zaccardi. When he falls in love with another woman (Franca Bettoja), Zaccardi begins to neglect his family. Things get worse when his emotionally unstable mistress commits suicide. Though his wife and son forgive him, Zaccardi somehow knows that his life has forever been altered, and that neither he nor his family will ever truly be happy again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Pietro Germi is both star and director of Il Ferroviere. Germi plays Andrea, a railroad engineer with a large and troublesome family. Faced with a choice between supporting his fellow workers in a strike and keeping his family fed, Andrea opts for the latter. Branded a scab by his former cohorts, he is likewise given the cold shoulder by his wife and children. Drowning his disappointment in liquor, Andrea is saved from self-destruction when his youngest son decides to forgive and forget. Il Ferroviere was released in the U.S. as The Railroad Man and Man of Iron. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo represented another move away from neorealism into sheer commercialism by Italian filmmker Pietro Germi. The story is set in the 1860s, when the Northern and Southern regions of Italy were forcibly assembled into a unified whole. A bandit loyal to the idea of Southern sovereignty wreaks havoc upon the forces of Northern Italy. In depicting the exploits of the bandit and the diligence of his military pursuers, director Germi is careful not to take sides, mirroring the political confusion rampant in Italy at the time of the story. When distributed to the U.S., Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo was advertised along the lines of a Civil War epic --which, for all intents and purposes, it was. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Orson Welles provides the voice of God in this farce starring Fernandel as Don Camillo, a vicar who causes trouble for the town's communist-leaning mayor. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

La Mano Della Morta was released in certain English-speaking territories as The Dead Woman's Hand. It's a period melodrama, distinguished by Byzantine plot complications and operatic acting. The protagonist, played by Mery Martin, is an embittered young woman who hopes to avenge her mother's murder. All the usual trappings are in evidence, including poison, secret passages, hastily scribbled messages and sinister servants. It is quite possible that La Mano della Morta would have received no American release at all had it not been for the voracious appetites of the various TV "Late Late Shows" throughout the land. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi