Dino de Laurentiis Movies
Having studied to be a cinematographer, Italian filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis was unable to secure a job in this line and had to settle for a series of menial jobs. When he finally made his full-fledged entry into the movie business at age 20, it was as a producer. World War II prevented De Laurentiis from attaining "boy wonder" status, but after the war he earned international recognition as producer of the neorealist classic Bitter Rice (1946). In partnership with director Federico Fellini in the early 1950s, De Laurentiis produced such films as La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1956). When Fellini broke up the partnership, De Laurentiis decided to turn his back on Art and concentrate on Commerce. He produced several popular "spectaculars" of the era, with gladiators, slave girls and outsized battle sequences in abundance. He also set up his own motion picture production center, Dinocitta, as a rival to the long-established Cinecitta studio complex in Rome. A late-'60s slump in the Italian film industry compelled De Laurentiis to move to Hollywood, where he set about to produce self-styled "blockbusters"--often remakes of earlier films or rip-offs of popular genres. Hollywood reporters of the era enjoyed making fun of De Laurentiis' variable epics (and of his "cute" Italian accent), though with such hits as Barberella (1968), Death Wish (1973) and Three Days of the Condor (1975), the producer always had the last laugh. But the law of diminishing returns inevitably exercised itself upon De Laurentiis, and after a string of expensive disasters in the mid-'80s (notably 1984's Dune), his DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy. The producer lost his Wilmington, North Carolina studios, which have since been purchased by the Carolco Company. Though written off by some industry pundits as a has-been, Dino DeLaurentiis always seems to land on his feet; as late as 1993 he was able to sign Madonna for a Basic Instinct clone titled Body of Evidence (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1969
Outlaw and prisoner Graziano Cassitti (Terence Hill) escapes and takes to the hill country in Sardinia. He continually eludes police and continues his raids on the nearby town, becoming a folk hero fighting against authorities. He takes comfort in the arms of Anania (Helen Ronee) as the two lovers meet under cover of darkness. Spina (Frank Wolf) is the local man who attempts to negotiate between the outlaw and the police while the arrogant criminal grants interviews to a sympathetic press. The story is taken from the real-life adventures of Graziano Mesina, who was jailed and awaiting trial for kidnapping, robbery and murder at the time of this film's release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Hill, Don Backy, (more)
- 1969
An Italian businessman brings his wife along on his trip to London. While he (Nino Segurini) attends meetings, his wife (Anita Sanders) takes in the sights of the city with the vibrant youth culture awakening sexual fantasies in her. She is followed by a black man (Terry Carter) and considers making love with the him. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Sanders, Terry Carter, (more)
- 1969
- R
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
- Starring:
- Suzy Kendall, James Booth, (more)
This Dino De Laurentiis-produced re-creation of the decisive Italian military operation top-bills Robert Mitchum as a battle-weary war correspondent. Robert Ryan and Arthur Kennedy play generals, Peter Falk is the lovable Brooklynese corporal, and Earl Holliman is the country-boy sergeant. Anzio was based on the book by Wynford Vaughan Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk, (more)
Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is the criminal mastermind who has just pulled off a huge heist. He spends most of his free time with his girlfriend, Eva (Marisa Mell), in fond embrace. The police minister (Terry-Thomas) is approached by Valmont (Adolfo Celi), a master criminal who proposes to use his underworld connections to catch Diabolik for the police. In between their gratuitous lovemaking, he and the exotic Eva are chased by police and the mob in this plodding crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, (more)
A voluptuous outer space agent travels to another galaxy in search of a missing inventor in this science fiction send-up. Barbarella (Jane Fonda), an interstellar representative of the united Earth government in the 41st century, is dispatched to locate scientist Durand Durand, whose positronic ray, if not recovered, could signal the end of humanity. Outfitted in an array of stunning Star Trek/Bond girl outfits and cruising around in a plush, psychedelic spaceship, Barbarella travels to the Tau Seti system and promptly crash-lands. She then spends the rest of the film discovering the joys of interstellar sex with a keeper of feral children (Ugo Tognazzi), a blind, beatific angel (John Phillip Law), and an inept revolutionary named Dildano (David Hemmings). Slowly but surely, she also finds her way to Durand Durand by moving from one exotic, Wizard of Oz-style locale to another. Along the way, she meets the kindly Professor Ping (a surprisingly verbal Marcel Marceau), a Eurotrash dominatrix named the Great Tyrant (Rolling Stones gal pal Anita Pallenberg), and the Concierge (Milo O'Shea), a strangely familiar lackey of the Great Tyrant who tries to destroy Barbarella with his great big organ of love. Jean-Claude Forest, who created the character Barbarella in 1962 for V-Magazine, served as visual advisor on the adaptation. The film's missing scientist character famously inspired the band name of '80s pop stars Duran Duran (who altered the spelling slightly). Almost two decades later, the film also inspired electronic act Matmos, which was named after the aqueous personification of evil unleashed by the Concierge at the movie's climax. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, (more)
- 1968
This gripping crime thriller from director Carlo Lizzani was based on a true story. A daring gang of bandits pull off a series of risky heists in Milan, murdering several innocent bystanders in the film's exciting opening getaway scene. Lizzani then moves the story backwards in time, painting a portrait of Milan as a seething hotbed of vice. Gian Maria Volonte gives an increasingly flamboyant performance as the gang's egomaniacal leader, whose Nazi-like belief in his own superiority proves to be the flaw which foils his plans. Tomas Milian, in a rare nonvillainous turn, shines as the dedicated young police inspector who brings Volonte down, and gun moll Carla Gravina has an amusing (if stereotypical) scene in which Volonte teaches her to drive. The thrilling car chase is among the best in the Italian crime genre, and even Riz Ortolani's typically annoying musical score does not detract from the film's appeal. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Don Backy, (more)
- 1968
A father and son are offered a good price for their land by a wealthy land baron. they agree to the sale, but are tricked into giving up their property through a bureaucratic maneuver for next to nothing. The son grows up to become a young man and fueled by his hatred for the evil baron, he seeks revenge on all who drove his family from the land. He becomes an outlaw but manages to escape capture while he kills off those responsible for uprooting his family by underhanded means. One by one, the victims fall to the vengeful son as he becomes a legendary hero to the peasants and the oppressed. The color process for the film is not credited. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Stefania Sandrelli, (more)
- 1967
The Stranger is a literal (but still very cinematic) adaptation of the novel by Albert Camus. Marcello Mastrioanni stars as Meursault, a man who feels utterly isolated from everyone and everything around him. This alienation results in sudden, inexplicable bursts of violence, culminating in murder. The subsequent trial of Meursault manages to convey the oppressive heat of its Algerian setting with director Luchino Visconti's usual veneer of elegant decadence. Though set in the 1930s, the sensibilities of the film were very much attuned to the 1960s: the problem was that Camus' sentiments had been adopted by so many other filmmakers of the period that The Stranger seemed rather commonplace. The film was originally released in Italy as Lo Staniero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Karina, (more)
- 1966
An evil scientist attempts to use his newly designed satellite to sterlize everyone on earth. Fortunately two savvy secret agents are set on the case to stop him. Basically this is a low grade, low budget Italian mish-mash of comedy and spy films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Connors, Dorothy Provine, (more)
The Bible was intended by producer Dino De Laurentiis as the first in a series of films which would eventually cover the Old and New Testament in their entireties. The many directors engaged for this project dropped out one by one, leaving only the adventurous John Huston. As a result, this film was the first and last in the series; its subtitle In the Beginning refers to the fact that only the first 22 chapters of Genesis ended up on film. After creation, we are introduced to the buff-naked Adam and Eve (Michael Parks and Ulla Bergyd), whose fall from grace segues into the Cain and Abel story. Next on the docket is the story of Noah, played by director Huston, who'd originally wanted Charlie Chaplin for the role. Abraham's sacrifice is then dramatized, with George C. Scott as the beleaguered protagonist. In quick succession, we are offered the Tower of Babel, the defiance of Nimrod, and Sodom and Gomorroh. Tying together these Old Testament episodes is Peter O'Toole as three angels; Ava Gardner also shows up in the role of Sarah. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Ulla Bergryd, (more)
- 1966
This Dino De Laurentiis production from 1965 is actually an anthology of five different directors' work, each telling their own stories about witches. The five stories are "The Witch Burned Alive," "Civic Sense," "The Earth As Seen From The Moon," "The Girl From Sicily," and "A Night Like Any Other." Silvia Mangano appears in all five, with Clint Eastwood starring in the last featured vignette. Like many gang-directed projects, this film is also plagued by a lack of continuity and by the pretentiousness of the individual directors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Annie Girardot, (more)
- 1965
Courtroom tomfoolery provides the basis for this four-episode Italian anthology comedy. In the first segment "Adultery in 16mm," an angry wife attempts to sue her neglectful husband by charging him with abandonment. Meanwhile, he charges her with adultery and claims to have a few reels of home-movie footage to prove it. The films are shown and the courtroom gasps when they learn the identity of the woman's lover. The second "The Priest and the Prostitute," centers on a self-righteous clergyman who pursues the streetwalker who picked his pocket. The hunted and hunter end up in a pool hall. When she attempts to give her ill-gotten loot to her pimp, the priest pounces and a melee erupts. The police end up taking all of them to jail where more fun follows. In the third episode, "Indecent Exposure," an overly health-conscious fellow religiously swims naked in a Roman ditch every day. The trouble begins on the day in which his clothes are stolen. In the final episode, "The Lustful Lieutenant," an old hooker is charged with soliciting. The attending judge is struck by her resemblance to his old wartime love, but he isn't sure whether it is really her or not. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
The Flying Saucer is an irreverent satire of the worldwide fascination in space travel in the early 1960s. Alberto Sordi plays four roles in this slight tale of an invasion from Mars. The Martians decide to kidnap several "typical" Earthlings to help them understand our curious planet. The subjects are maddening enough to send the Martians hurtling off the planet as fast as their fat little pods will carry them. Flying Saucer gets off to a good start with a phony newsreel, wherein several interviewees offer the most fatuous opinions ever put on film; the rest of the film isn't able to match this opening, but there are isolated belly laughs along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Monica Vitti, (more)
- 1964
And Suddenly It's Murder! is a regulation Dino De Laurentiis concoction: Big stars, lavish production values, muddleheaded plot. Three Italian couples go on separate vacations to Monte Carlo. When they open their suitcases, a body tumbles out of one of the grips. The rest of the film is a macabre variation of La Ronde, with the body being transferred from room to room and the innocent being implicated along with the guilty. Among the discomfited tourists are Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, and Silvana Mangano. Originally released in Italy in 1959 as Crimen, And Suddenly It's Murder! didn't make it to the States until 1964; some English-language prints bear the title Criminals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Bernard Blier, (more)
- 1964
Michelangelo Antonioni served as just one of three directors on this Dino de Laurentiis production that also corralled Franco Indovina (Antonioni's assistant on three films) and Mauro Bolognini for three segments that all adhered to the titular theme, The Three Faces of a Woman: Il Provino, Latin Lover, and Famous Lovers. Il Provino (or Prefazione, The Preface), Antonioni's contribution, stars a former member of Iranian royalty, Saroya; the entire film consists of her screen test. Indovina's Latin Lover chronicles a professional woman's experience with a male escort, hired by her business to keep her company on her travels to Rome. Finally, Bolognini's Famous Lovers focuses on a woman whose marriage is threatened by an affair with a dashing young writer. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari
- 1963
This serio-comic drama finds a man (Alberto Sordi) in debt with no easy way to alleviate the situation. He conspires to sell one of his eyes to cover his loses and remain a success in the eyes of his wife. The talent of Sordi prevents this film from being labels as glory to gore as he weighs his options and sets his eye on the prize. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
In this crime comedy with heavy neorealist influence, Antonio (Alberto Sordi) is a Sicilian auto plant worker who has almost completely forsaken his southern Italian roots by marrying a fair-haired girl from the north and conceiving two children with her. As the movie opens, Antonio prepares to round up the family and take them on a vacation to his native town of Calamo, Sicily. Before he leaves, however, his boss summons him in and asks him to pass along a little gift to Don Vincenzo, a mob boss in Calamo. Antonio agrees to the plan, tentatively at first, but as the family gets closer and closer to the isle of Antonio's childhood, and shares lodging with Antonio's eccentric family, Sicilian pride and enthusiasm well up inside of this family patriarch, and he is,ultimately confronted with a request to carry out a hit for Vincenzo. Dino DeLaurentiis produced and Alberto Lattuada directed. Though the film was long forgotten, it received a U.S. theatrical release by Rialto in 2007 and netted absolutely stunning reviews. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Ugo Attanasio, (more)
This 1962 Biblical epic was adapted by Christopher Fry from the novel by Pär Lagerkvist. Anthony Quinn stars as Barabbas, the thief who was pardoned in place of Jesus. For the rest of his life, the guilt-ridden criminal tries to justify his existence and to determine his place in the scheme of things. Along the way he encounters the self-righteous pomposity of Pontius Pilate (Arthur Kennedy), the stoning of Sara (Katy Jurado), the gladiatorial sadism of Torvald (Jack Palance), and the burning of Rome. The film's unbilled Christ is played by Roy Magnano, the brother of Quinn's second-billed costar Silvia Mangano. Watch for the genuine solar eclipse during the Crucifixion sequence, an effect that director Richard Fleischer spent several days preparing for. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, (more)
- 1962
In this military comedy, Maj. Richardson (David Niven) and Lt. Burke (Michael Wilding) are two British soldiers on a recognizance mission over Ethiopia in 1941 when their plane crashes in the desert. Capt. Blasi (Alberto Sordi), an Italian officer, finds the Englishmen and offers to help them: he'll let them go if they allow him and his men to take over an old fort nearby and stay there without being bothered. Richardson and Burke agree, and they return to their base of operations, only to discover that they've been ordered to attack the fort and capture Blasi and his men. Richardson considers himself a man of his word and doesn't care for this duty; in time, the two men become friends and exchange banter as they take turns capturing one another. Remarkably enough, Italian actor Alberto Sordi didn't speak English when he made this film, and he learned all his dialogue phonetically. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Alberto Sordi, (more)
- 1960
In this war drama, a band of Italian soldiers, elated to hear that the war is finally over, promptly desert and head for home. Only two soldiers remain loyal to the army and they promptly begin heading back to the main forces. En route they are enticed by partisan soldiers who want the two to join them. Later they are joined by more soldiers. One of them is arrested by the Fascists for concealing an American paratrooper. When the two finally return, the Germans force them to work on a road gang. They are attacked by partisans, and one of the soldiers escapes. His partner is shot so the soldier joins the rebels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Martin Balsam, (more)
- 1960
This conventional, unimaginative drama is about a coterie of "ladies of the evening" who get themselves embroiled in a cover-up that results in murder and suicide. Life seems to be proceeding as normal until one of the hookers has an elderly client die on her. The women rightly deduce that if their already bad reputation is saddled with a distinction of being sexually lethal, business might deteriorate. And so they decide to hide the body, which starts off a set of circumstances that make matters much worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Valerie, Andreina Pagnani, (more)
- 1960
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
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Charles Laughton, (more)
- 1960
Once branded himself by the House Un-American Activities Committee, award-winning director Martin Ritt focuses on the cruel branding of five women in this standard wartime drama. Some of his better-known films (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Norma Rae) also deal with the question of social and ethical choices in the face of pressure. In this story, the savagery of the Yugoslav partisans as they fight off Nazi occupation forces is also vented on five women accused of Nazi sympathies because of their sexual association with one German officer. The women (played by Silvana Mangano, Vera Miles, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeanne Moreau, and Carla Gravina) have their heads shaved in order to brand them as traitors. What the partisans did to the German officer (Steve Forrest) in revenge for sleeping with these women was much worse. Intermittently shocking, the film with its excess cruelty and hatreds stands as a good indictment against war and its causes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Vera Miles, (more)
- 1960
This drama, loosely based on the legend of the "Hunchback," is set in Rome, 1944. The story begins as the Hunchback, a leader of the Resistance rapes a Nazi collaborator's daughter. Later he falls in love with her. As he is trying to steal arms from a Nazi arsenal, the Germans shoot the Hunchback. He ends up hiding in her house where he kills her father. He is soon captured and tortured by the Fascists. Meanwhile, the hapless girl miscarries her child and becomes a prostitute. Later the Hunchback and his 150 Resistance fighters take over a Roman suburb and attempt to liberate the town whores from a life of prostitution. His attempts fail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Blain, Bernard Blier, (more)
