Marcello Fondato Movies

A 14-year-old boy working in a secondhand store after school finds a magic lamp in this comical fantasy adventure. The genie (Bud Spencer) grants Alan his wishes when he asks for a Rolls Royce, vanquishes the local bullies, and becomes a star basketball player. The genie helps get rid of local mobster Siracusa, who is putting the squeeze on local merchants as well as on Alan's mom (Janet Agren). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Bud Spencer and Cary Guffey reprise the roles they originated in 1979's The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid in this sequel that finds the hapless ex-sheriff (Spencer) on the run from the army with his pint-sized alien sidekick (Guffey) when he stumbles into a town that just happens to be in need of an experienced lawman. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A retired football great heads back to the gridiron to coach a fledgling team and prove he still has that magic touch in this classic Bud Spencer sports comedy. "The Bulldozer" (Spencer) was a football giant with an ego the size of Texas. Refusing to believe that he could ever be defeated out on the gridiron, "The Bulldozer" eventually turned his back on the sport lest he risk being proven wrong. While the former star did prove successful at ducking out of the limelight and beginning a career as an anonymous fisherman, things took a turn for the worst when his boat was destroyed by a submarine. Subsequently unemployed, "The Bulldozer" reluctantly accepted a position coaching a minor-league team. Regardless of his "has been" status, however, "The Bulldozer" still knows that he's the best football player there is, and he's prepared to prove it to the entire world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This satirical comedy recounts a tale of love across class boundaries; the twist is that here a middle-class juror, Gabriella Sansoni (Claudia Cardinale), learns about love from the testimony of Tina Candela (Monica Vitti), a woman on trial for murder. It seems that Tina has found ecstasy in a masochistic fashion by being slapped around by her beloved husband Gino (Giancarlo Giannini). She is so persuasive in this regard that Gabriella lays out a plan to receive similar treatment from her man, Andrea (Vittorio Gassman). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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

A group of international jewel thieves band together to pull off a huge heist in this suspenseful caper film that was shot in Europe, New York, and Brazil. The adventure begins in Rio where a burned out school teacher (Edward G. Robinson) decides to chuck his unfulfilling career and try to steal some of the diamonds he sees being delivered to the gem company across the street from his classroom. Realizing that the theft must be carefully planned and delicately executed, he heads for New York to gain the assistance of an old friend, a crime boss (Adolfo Celi) who then gathers an outlaw group comprised of an electronics expert, a safecracker, a gigolo, and an ex-mercenary. They make their plans and head back to Rio when the city is engulfed in Carnival celebrations. Unfortunately, they quickly learn that the diamond company has installed a nearly impenetrable new security system called Grand Slam 70. While altering their plans, the company secretary (Janet Leigh) gets suspicious and makes a few plans of her own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Mario Bava's second thriller revolves around a fashion salon owned by wealthy Cristina (Eva Bartok) and her greedy lover Max (Cameron Mitchell). The salon is a front for cocaine-trafficking and blackmail, so when model Isabella (Lea Kruger) is viciously strangled, leaving a detailed diary behind, many of the people connected with the salon become very nervous. Isabella's roommate Nicole (Arianna Gorini) finds the diary and soon has her throat clawed out with a piece of medieval armor. Peggy (Mary Arden), who borrowed abortion money from Isabella, is tortured and has her face pressed into a red-hot iron. The bodies continue to pile up until a conspiracy is exposed and the perpetrators start getting their just desserts. Luciano Pigozzi, Massimo Righi, and Claude Dantes are among the cast. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In this sentimental romance scripted by director Luigi Comencini and Marcello Fondato, leading-lady Claudia Cardinale rises above the tepid screenplay to turn in one of her better efforts. Set in a small Italian village in the 1940s, La Ragazza di Bube tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a complete stranger (George Chakiris). The stranger turns out to have killed a fascist policeman during World War II and is sent to jail for 14 years. The woman pines for the convict and waits out his sentence, spurning the love of a writer (Marc Michel) who wants to marry her. Chakiris is typically stiff, and Carlo Rustichelli's passionate score makes more of the situation than is warranted, but Cardinale's controlled, low-key performance keeps the film from becoming too overwrought. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This anthology features three chilling horror stories. "Il Telefono" is credited to Guy de Maupassant, although he never wrote such a story, and concerns a woman (Michele Mercier) receiving telephone calls from beyond the grave. "Wurdulak", by Alexei Tolstoi, stars Boris Karloff as an aging vampire who can only feed on those he loves. Co-starring Mark Damon and Susy Andersen, it is clearly the best story of the three. The final tale, "La Goccia d'Acqua," is falsely credited to Anton Chekhov. It features Jacqueline Pierreux stealing a ring from a corpse she is preparing for burial, only to be murdered by the old woman's ghost. The American version differs in four major areas: the print is shorter, the stories appear in a different order, there is a linking device with Karloff speaking directly to the audience from a foggy void, and Roberto Nicolosi's musical score is replaced with one by lounge-icon Les Baxter. The American release of the film is also missing a comic coda featuring Karloff riding on horseback (or is he?); this appears in most Eurpoean prints of the film, including Mario Bava's original cut. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Paul Lukas plays a nightclub headwaiter who rises to fame as a bridge expert. He marries hat check girl Loretta Young, likewise a card fanatic. Lukas and Young find themselves vying for the national bridge championship, which results in the expected frictions. All is forgiven in the climactic scenes, in which silver-tongued radio commentator Roscoe Karns gives a play-by-play of the "big game" while director William Dieterle uses freeze frames and slow motion to beef up the tension. Grand Slam is quite an eye-opener for fans of Loretta Young, who displays an unusually generous amount of thigh in her nightclub outfit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide