O. Biancoli Movies

Infidelity is the real subject linking the four funny vignettes that comprise this Italian anthology. "The First Night" centers on a naive pair of Sicilian newlyweds honeymooning in Naples. While celebrating their wedding night a friendly millionaire invites them aboard his yacht for a few drinks. There the tycoon offers the groom a fortune in exchange for having sex with his bride. Too drunk to think straight, the groom agrees to the bargain. The next night, he goes to cash the millionaire's check and finds it is no good forcing him to make a difficult decision. In the second story, "One Moment is Enough" an insanely jealous husband's attempts to keep his wife faithful fail miserably. The third story "The Last Card" centers on an unemployed football player who becomes a male prostitute to help support his impoverished family. Unfortunately, he is not quite up to the job. Finally in "Saturday, July 18," a wife spends a month vacationing in Capri. Her husband eventually shows up and begins boasting about how trustworthy she is. Unfortunately for him, she is anything but. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The alluring presence of doe-eyed horror icon Barbara Steele enlivens director Riccardo Freda's passable sequel to his own Horrible Dr. Hichcock. Steele returns as Cynthia, the troubled widow of a sadistic murderer and necrophiliac, who had once conspired with her lover to murder her husband before she could become the next of his tortured playthings. Unfortunately for her, you can't keep an evil man down, as proven by the sudden appearance of the doctor's vengeful ghost. All is not quite as it seems, however, as we learn that the menacing apparition is somehow linked to Steele's mysterious housekeeper. A workmanlike effort from the otherwise capable Freda (I Vampiri), this film plays like a less stylish retread of Diabolique. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this epic, a medieval adventurer heads to China and winds up saving the Grand Khan's daughter from bandits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Italian drama tells the story of Christ's crucifixion from the viewpoint of the Roman emperor's procurator in Israel who must try to quell a Jewish revolt. In a bizarre twist, John Drew Barrymore plays both Jesus and Judas in the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In 13th-Century China, the invading Mongol leader Garak (Leopoldo Severini) decides to kill a young prince before he can take the throne, staging a hunting accident to explain the death. The nomadic strongman Maciste (Gordon Scott) saves the prince from a tiger pit and brings him to a monastery, then attempts seven feats of strength which will repel the invaders according to prophecy. During one of Maciste's tests, he is captured and imprisoned beneath the Mongol palace. As rebellion swirls around Garach, Maciste summons all of his strength and breaks free, causing a spectacular earthquake which swallows the invading hordes. This standard sword-and-sandal adventure features some rousing battle scenes, but was so heavily edited for American release that only five of Maciste's seven tests remain. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Maciste, here played by Kirk Morris, is instead a legendary Italian superhero of long standing. In this one, the mighty Mr. M journeys to seventeenth-century Scotland (this is Hell?) His foe is a fearsome Scottish witch who holds awesome power over the local wildlife, and for a while it looks like our hero will get killed. As with many other Maciste films, this Technicolor opus was bundled into the "Sons of Hercules" package syndicated to local TV stations in the mid-1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prolific director Giorgio Bianchi comes off with another good comedy in Il Moralista, due in no small part to the talents of Alberto Sordi as Agostino, the de facto head of a censorship board whose double life as a nightclub owner might raise some questions as to his censorial judgment. The titular head of the organization (Vittorio De Sica) is not that interested in running it himself, being more interested in women. The censors must review everything from posters for a show to the costumes in a show, as well as a production's language and content. Given their predilections, Agostino and his boss are unlikely candidates for making others walk the straight and narrow path of socially acceptable fare. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Unlike many multistoried films of the 1950s, Gran Varieta is the handiwork of a single solitary director--though five writers collaborated on the screenplay. The film is divided into five separate playlets, all unified by a "backstage" theme. In the first, Maria Fiore plays an aspiring singer who gets more than she bargains for upon attaining stardom. The second tale involves quick-change artist Alberto Sordi, who is successful in love only when he decides to be "himself". Carlo Croccolo stars in the third segment as a variety performer whose "soldier act" results in his early demise. The fourth (and best) story features Vittorio DeSica as a once-famous actor, now on the skids. Gran Varieta concludes with a satirical story about a fascist-government censor, played by Renato Rascal, who has his work cut out for him when he tries to clean up a girlie show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An all-star cast graces this Italian "omnibus" feature. The film consists of eight short stories, each based on nostalgic literary efforts. Linking the various stories is bookseller Aldo Fabrizi, who passes the time by reading the works dramatized herein. In "The Excelsior Ball," dancer Alba Arnova arouses the libido of several observers. In "Less Than a Day," a three-hour train delay wreaks havoc on the romance between Arnova and Andrea Checchi. In "Sardinian Drummer Boy," the title character (Enzo Cerusico) becomes an unexpected hero on the battlefield. In "Matter of Interest," two farmers (Arnoldo Foa and Folco Lulli) quarrel over a compost pile. In "The Idyll," two very young people (Maurizio Di Nardo and Geraldina Pariniello) fall in love. "Potpourri of Songs" delivers on its title through the musical versatility of Barbara Florian and Elio Pandolfi. "The Trial of Frine" finds accused murderess Gina Lollobrigida being defended by colorful lawyer Vittorio De Sica. And in "The Trap," an accusatory husband (Amedeo Nazzari) drives his far-from-innocent wife (Elis Cegani) into an act of extreme desperation. Also known as In Olden Days, Altri Tempi was distributed worldwide by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Villa plays the archetypal prodigal son in the Italian Disillusion. Ostensibly attending law school, Armando (Villa) is actually squandering his father's money on gambling and women. All the while, Armando's ingenuous father (Ruggero Ruggeri) bursts with pride whenever speaking of his studious offspring. As the film's English-language indicates, Papa is in for quite a shock when he arrives in Paris on a visit. Fortunately, Armando is sufficiently remorseful, and does his best to earn back the money he has frittered away. Disillusion was directed by veteran filmmaker Mario Bonnard, who in his acting days frequently essayed the same sort of rakish character played here by Robert Villa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This landmark Italian neorealist drama became one of the best-known and most widely acclaimed European movies, including a special Academy Award as "most outstanding foreign film" seven years before that Oscar category existed. Written primarily by neorealist pioneer Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio DeSica, also one of the movement's main forces, the movie featured all the hallmarks of the neorealist style: a simple story about the lives of ordinary people, outdoor shooting and lighting, non-actors mixed together with actors, and a focus on social problems in the aftermath of World War II. Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio, an unemployed man who finds a coveted job that requires a bicycle. When it is stolen on his first day of work, Antonio and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) begin a frantic search, learning valuable lessons along the way. The movie focuses on both the relationship between the father and the son and the larger framework of poverty and unemployment in postwar Italy. As in such other classic films as Shoeshine (1946), Umberto D. (1952), and his late masterpiece The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971), DeSica focuses on the ordinary details of ordinary lives as a way to dramatize wider social issues. As a result, The Bicycle Thief works as a sentimental study of a father and son, a historical document, a social statement, and a record of one of the century's most influential film movements. ~ Leo Charney, All Movie Guide