Silvio Clementelli Movies
Tirelessly producing over 50 films during his nearly 40-year career, Italian producer Silvio Clementelli worked with some of his country's leading directors. Finding widespread success with Dino Risi's 1957 comedy Poor but Beautiful, Clementelli launched an enduring career that would result in such other commercial hits as Malizia (1973).Initiated into the film industry after WWII as a screenwriter and an assistant director, Clementelli made his transition to producer while working with fellow producer Carlo Ponti's Titanus studio. Later forming his own studio under the Clesi Cinematografica banner, Clementelli embarked on a film career that would find him working among such directors as Alberto Lattuada (Bambina [1974]) and Liliana Cavani (Beyond Good and Evil [1977]). Moving increasingly toward television work in his later career, Clementelli served as producer for the lavish 1985 production of Christopher Columbus. Also serving as president of the national producers union and CEO of Istituo Luce in his later career, Clementelli died in Rome on December 4, 2001, following a lengthy illness. He was 75. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Viewers familiar with the 1973 film with a very similar name will recognize many of the characters in this light comedy, which is set over twenty-five years in the future. In the earlier film, a saucy and gorgeous country girl was hired to keep house for a widower and his three sons and ran into difficulties when the middle son selected her as the object for his romantic obsessions. In this movie, the housekeeper has married her old employer, and the sons have moved away. However, the villa they live in is built atop an archaeologically interesting site, and she and her husband invite an archaeologist and his son to visit them to investigate it. Before long, she is receiving mash notes and flowers from the antiquarian's son, which she efficiently brushes aside. When evidences of romantic intent keep coming, she begins to wonder just who is sending them to her. It could be the boy, his handsome father, or even her own husband. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Antonelli, Turi Ferro, (more)
- 1987
- NR
Filmed in Italy, The Inquiry uses the Bible as a launching pad for speculative fiction. Shortly after the Crucifixion, Roman investigator Titus Valerius Taurus (Keith Carradine) is dispatched to the Holy Land. His mission: to find out who removed the body of Jesus Christ. Carradine is hampered in his investigation by governor Pontius Pilate (Harvey Keitel), who is anxious to keep the details of Jesus' last moments on Calvary from becoming public knowledge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, (more)
- 1985
Leading man Gabriel Byrne adds a "Harlequin Romance" dash to the two-part, six-hour TV movie Christopher Columbus. Seeking out a swifter route to the lucrative Indies, Genoa-born Columbus begs King John of Portugal (Max Von Sydow) to finance a westbound expedition. Failing this, he turns to Spain's Queen Isabella (Faye Dunaway), who is entranced by Columbus' near-religious fervor. After the famous 1492 expedition, Columbus is bankrolled for future forays into the New World, which win him both adulation and vilification. Originally telecast May 19 and 20, 1985, Christopher Columbus was filmed on location in Spain, Malta and the Dominican Republic, making full use of a $15 million budget. It isn't an earth-shattering cinematic experience, but is lots more worthwhile (and less ponderous) than the brace of Columbus biopics inflicted upon movie audiences in 1992. Those concerned with political correctness should be satisfied with the film's second half, which explores the more sinister elements of chauvinistic colonization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
A gang of thieves begin using a highly-detailed book of crime fiction as a blueprint for their own capers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Enrico Montesano, Jean Rochefort, (more)
- 1979
A large international cast takes part in this comedy in which the stories of numerous individuals whose cars are stalled in a massive Roman traffic jam are told. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Orazio Orlando, (more)
- 1979
The old Guy De Maupassant story The Devil would seem to be the springboard for the Italian-made Leap Into the Void. Michel Piccoli plays an Italian jurist whose sister Anouk Aimee is a bit "light in the belfry". Piccoli entreats Michele Placido to convince the awkward Aimee to kill herself. The results are unexpected, and fascinating. As with most of his work, director Marco Bellocchio uses the seemingly petty problems of his bourgeois characters as a mirror of what is going on in society at large. Leap Into the Void was originally released as Salto nel Vuoto; both Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimee won Best Acting awards at the 1980 Cannes Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1977
A misguided attempt to dramatize the psychological triad formed by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (Erland Josephson), his Jewish friend Paul Rees (Robert Powell), and a Russian girl named Lou Von Salome (Dominique Sanda), this overbearing drama fails mightily. Nietzsche is portrayed as a jealous sociopath who drives Rees to suicide, and director Liliana Cavani cannot resist including a drug-hallucination ballet about Good and Evil which approaches the excesses of her controversial Il Portiere di Notte in its melodramatic sexual hysteria. Cavani's film is feverish where it should have been calculating and lurid where it should have been provocative. The result may be the first exploitation film aimed at philosophy students, and even deft supporting turns by Virna Lisi and Philippe Leroy cannot make the dialogue -- drawn hamfistedly from Nietzsche's own writings -- any less ridiculous. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Sanda, Erland Josephson, (more)
- 1975
This sex and science fiction comedy is based on the equation of sexual energy and energy in general. Electrical fixtures have run out of steam, but a love-making pair demonstrates that through the power of their orgasms alone they are able to generate electricity to operate first a light bulb, then a street lamp, then the entire hospital where they are being scientifically observed and ultimately all of society's gadgetry. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agostina Belli
- 1973
A widower falls in love with the new housekeeper (Laura Antonelli) he has hired for his three sons, but later realizes he's not the only man in the household wishing to have an affair with her. The film, originally released in Italy as Malizia, appears in dubbed English. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Teenaged boys fantasize about having sex with women in this Italian sex comedy, and they often succeed. Sandro (Alessandro Momo) takes his father's housekeeper to bed not long before she becomes his step-mother. As a temporary lifeguard at the beach, he courts the large coterie of sex-starved wives left at the beach for the summer by their hard-working husbands who only visit them on weekends. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Based on the Restoration-era play by John Ford, the Italian 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore (Addio, Fratello Cruelle) stars Charlotte Rampling as the much-put-upon Annabella. Involved in an incestuous relationship with her own brother, Annabella becomes pregnant. This necessitates a quick marriage of convenience to nobleman Soranzo (Fabio Testi). Upon finding out who's responsible for Annabella's plight, Soranzo flies off into a murderous rage. Before you blame the "liberated" 1970s for the racier aspects of 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore, please remember that the source material is 300 years old. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
This situation sex comedy falls somewhere in between vulgarity and burlesque. Ulli (Giuliano Gemma) and his six cave-dwelling cronies try to learn all the conveniences of their era -- like building fires, using the wheel, and perfecting the use of tools and weapons. A fire engulfs their tiny island and the men are forced to take a raft to the unknown mainland. There Ulli meets Filli (Senta Berger), and he spends his time trying to make her his monogamous girlfriend by discouraging others who desire her for their own. Ennio Morricone provides the music to this feature, which was a surprising box-office hit in Italy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giuliano Gemma, Senta Berger, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this nasty drama, a 17th-century Italian nun's long repressed sexual passion is awakened when a handsome nobleman rapes her. Confused by her unholy emotions, the nun sees that the aristocrat is arrested. Unfortunately, the louse impregnated her and shortly after bearing his child, she helps him escape from prison. Reunited, the two embark upon a passionate affair. One day another nun sees the two making love. Unfortunately, she dies before she can tell anyone. Later the offending nun is captured and given a life sentence for having sex and helping to murder her colleague. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
- Add Certo, Certissimo, Anzi . . . Probabile to QueueAdd Certo, Certissimo, Anzi . . . Probabile to top of Queue
The literal translation of this title is Certain, Very Certain, As a Matter of Fact...Probable. This indeed was the title by which this trivial Italian comedy was known during its limited American release. The star is international glamour plate Claudia Cardinale, improbably cast as a telephone switchboard operator. It is believable that Cardinale is using her job as a means to trap a man for herself. When she is stood up by her first conquest, Cardinale teams with Catherine Spaak to romance and fleece eligible rich bachelors (and a few wealthy husbands) up and down the European continent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Catherine Spaak, (more)
- 1968
The literal translation of this Italian title is "He's My Husband, I'll Kill Him When I Please." A young woman is married to a man in his 70s. To make sure his wife is taken care of after his death, the husband tries to arrange her marriage to a friend of his. When the young bride discovers this, she plans to hasten his imminent demise. She takes up with a beatnik and goes about planning her husband's murder as if she were merely making out a grocery list of needed items at a convenience store. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Spaak, Hywel Bennett, (more)
- 1968
Struggles over Sardinian grazing land have long been a tradition in the interior of the island where shepherding is a main economic force. This violent tale of kidnapping, extortion and murder finds a family victimized by the abduction of their college-student son. The student's girlfriend runs into a stone wall of silence from the residents before she finally goes to the police. When property rights are signed over to the mastermind of the abduction, he orders himself to be kidnapped to collect on the insurance and property monies. A friend of the family uncovers the real estate scheme linked to the crime, as the family tries to get enough money to see their son returned safely. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
- 1968
When Catherine Spaak's husband dies, she discovers a hitherto hidden room on their estate. The room is surrounded by mirrors and curious sexual devices; when Spaak takes a peek at hubby's diary, she learns he was carrying on a secret life that made Sacher-Masoch and Krafft-Ebbing look like pikers. Deciding that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Spaak begins to conduct her own kinky sex life. Doctor Jean-Louis Trintigant, who sincerely loves Spaak, tries to deflect her from whips, boots and handcuffs, but before long he too succumbs to the seductions of aberrant behavior. Libertine was originally released in Italy as La Matriarca. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Spaak, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1964
This World War II drama is based on an actual incident. Two Nazi soldiers desert and help a Canadian cook when the unit takes over a concentration camp. Trudeau (Richard Johnson) is the Canadian captain who respects his German counterpart (Helmut Schneider). An escape attempt has the Nazis capturing the deserters and the Germans demand they be turned over to them. The Canadians refuse, but the Germans insist the deserters face court martial. The Canadian commander forces the cook to turn over the two men who are shot by the Germans with Canadian rifles five days after the official end of the war. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Richard Johnson, (more)
- 1964
Three different takes on love are presented in this episodic Italian film. The first story begins as a prostitute is involved in an auto wreck and ends up in a body cast. While recuperating, she attempts to seduce a young priest preparing to take his final vows. He does not succumb and instead tries to save her. By the story's end, she has become a nun, and he has left the clergy. The second tale follows a widow as she takes her husband's corpse back to Sicily. En route she makes a few new friends who turn out to be those who killed her husband, who unbeknownst to her was a notorious mafioso. In the last story, a young woman marries a troubled middle-aged man. To help him, she suggests he take a lover. She then finds out he has had one for a long time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Spaak
- 1960
Also known as The Passionate Thief, this fast-paced crime comedy stars Anna Magnani as the fly in the ointment for a pair of disreputable types. Pickpockets Toto and Ben Gazzara don't want Magnani around while they ply their trade, but she manages to foul up their plans by falling in love with their "pigeon", American tourist Fred Clark. Gazzara briefly rids himself of Magnani by pinning a robbery rap on her. Upon her release from jail, she is reunited with Toto, who has loved her all along. Since it is established early on that Magnani is a movie extra and Toto an out-of-work actor, Risate di Giola gets away with a few jibes at the Italian film industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Jean-Louis Trintignant's star was just rising when he took on the role of Carlo in this engrossing wartime coming-of-age story. Carlo is a young man living in his own world and blithely inattentive to the real war that is happening not very far away. This is particularly striking because he is the son of a high-level fascist. The year is 1943 and he has gone to a seaside resort on vacation where he meets the beautiful, older widow Roberta (Eleonora Rossi Drago). Carlo is smitten and in spite of various obstacles, he and Roberta enter into a romantic liaison. Then one day Allied forces land on the coast and Carlo is faced with the realities of war and a reassessment of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleonora Rossi-Drago, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1956
A reporter's search for scandal is the focus of this drama. He is looking for dirt to boost his paper's ratings. He begins digging around in the past of a prominent banker's new wife. Before her marriage, she had been a nobleman's personal secretary until he was poisoned. The journalist soon learns that the woman's daughter was born out of wedlock. The woman explains that the child's father, her fiance, had been killed during the war. This does not prevent the reporter from publishing his tales. As a result even her husband begins to doubt her.Their lives change dramatically, when her daughter, who suffers from polio, is run over by a truck while trying to escape from photographers. The banker soon believes his honest wife. The sleazy reporter gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
