Duilio Coletti Movies

Two German spies and a woman physician (Suzy Kendall) are taken by submarine to Scotland where they enter the country at nightfall. Their mission is to assassinate the British Field Marshall Lord Kitchener. The woman's male companions are captured, but she escapes with the knowledge of what boat the Marshall is on. Boarding the submarine, the Germans make plans to bomb the boat with a series of strategically placed land mines. She travels from Russia to Germany to Britain and Spain as she double-crosses double agents in a cat-and-mouse game of espionage. A gruesome scene shows a German gas attack that peels off the flesh of the Allied soldiers as they writhe in agony. James Booth, Capucine, and Kenneth More also star in this World War I drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Under Ten Flags is a fact-based British maritime epic set during World War II. Allied ships are being victimized by a German surface raider, which sails under friendly flags until moving in for the kill. Since so many nationalities were involved in making this film (both before and behind the cameras), it is difficult at times to determine whose side one is supposed to be on. On screen, the Germans seem the cleverest and most resourceful of all the combatants; at times, one hopes that they'll get away with their high-seas perfidy--especially since the captain is played by charismatic American actor Van Heflin. Under Ten Flags has a minimum of war action, but this didn't prevent an enterprising home-movie firm from excerpting nine minutes' worth of highlights for an 8-millimeter version--which did better business than the original 92 minute feature! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This war drama is based on actual events from World War II. The Nazis invade the Netherlands and capture an important British agent who relays daily messages from Amsterdam to London. When the Germans continue to send these messages (unknown to the British), it creates havoc for the British and Dutch underground. Many agents are captured or killed, and the British must smuggle a female agent into Amsterdam to access the troubled situation. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Lois Maxwell, the Canadian actress who achieved worldwide fame as Miss Moneypenny in the "James Bond" films, heads the cast of the made-in-Italy La Grande Speranza (The Great Hope). Ms. Maxwell plays a British nurse named Lily, one of several survivors of a submarine attack during WW2. Lily and the others are rescued by Renato Baldini, commander of the Italian submarine which sank their ship. At first, there's no love lost between the Italian crew and their Allied captives. Gradually, Baldini's essential humanity is revealed, as is his love for the now-friendly Lily. What starts as a traditional wartime melodrama concludes in the spirit of peace on earth, goodwill towards men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The English-language title of this Italian WW I drama is Seven of the Big Bear. The title refers to a group of Italian navy frogmen, who train arduously for a raid on the allied stronghold of Gilbraltar. Their "inside man" on the island is actually a woman, nightclub singer Eleanora Rossi Drago. When last seen, the deep-sea-diving heroes are engaged in an assault on the British fleet at Alexandria. I Sette Dell'Orsa Maggiore would make a fascinating companion feature to the American wartime actioner The Frogmen. The music is by Nino Rota, whose later filmwork included the two Godfather films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Valentina Cortese's star continued to rise with the period melodrama Bullet for Stefano (Il Passatore). Cortese plays Barbara, whose wedding is interrupted when dashing brigand Stefano (Rossano Brazzi) kills the groom and abducts the bride. Eventually, Stefano tires of Barbara, and casts her aside. But she is not to be dispensed with so easily. Rallying the peasantry, Barbara sets the wheels in motion for Stefano's destruction. Curiously, despite his wretched behavior, there is a certain amount of sympathy for Stefano, who is a thief only because he wishes to help the poor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The principal selling angle for The Earth Cries Out was its timeliness. The film is one of the first to record the migration of European Jews to Israel following the 1948 pullout of the British. After exhausting its cache of stock footage, the film settles into banality by concentrating on the exploits of three different people: A terrorist, A British officer, and a colonizer. Though well photographed (and, in the English version, well dubbed), The Earth Cries Out pales in comparison to such Hollywood Israeli-based films as Sword in the Desert (49), The Juggler (52) and Exodus. The film was initially released in Italy as Il Grido Della Terra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barely seen in the US at the time of its release, the Italian Lure of the Sila (IL Lupo Della Sila) became a television mainstay in the 1960s. Vittorio Gassman plays a man whose life is ruined when he is accused of murder. Gassman's tragedy is broadcast throughout Italy, "glorified" in song and story. Forced to assume a new identity, Gassman's sister Silvana Magnano quietly plans her revenge. It's best to see Lure of the Sila in an uncut, subtitled version; the dialogue in the 72-minute English-dubbed version is downright puerile at times, totally unworthy of this compelling melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide