Pietro Germi Movies
Genoa native Pietro Germi briefly attended the Instituto Nautico before entering Rome's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematographia . There he studied acting and directing, supporting himself with a number of bottom-level movie industry jobs. In 1946, he directed his first film, Il Testimone, which he also co-scripted. Almost immediately tagged as a "neorealist," Germi actually had more in common stylistically and thematically with American director John Ford (whom he deeply admired) than his Italian contemporaries. By the mid-1950s, Germi had pretty much abandoned drama in favor of satirical comedy, often utilizing the poverty-stricken regions of Sicily as his backdrop. Germi's Divorce Italian Style (1961) was a huge worldwide box-office hit which earned him an Oscar for "Best Screenplay" (in collaboration with Alfredo Giannetti and Ennio de Concini). In 1965, he was co-recipient of the Cannes festival "Best Picture" award for Signore e signori, released in the U.S. as The Birds, the Bees and the Italians. Pietro Germi's last completed film was Alfredo, Alfredo (1972); he was forced to pull out of his final project, Amici Miei (1975), suffering from the acute hepatitis that would ultimately kill him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1975
The famed Italian film director Pietro Germi (his sharply observant and satirical films include The Immoralist, and Divorce Italian Style) began work on this comedy, but died before he could do more than write the screenplay. However, he lived long enough to choose Mario Monicelli as his successor. In the story, four friends keep their friendship alive and their Tuscan town lively by means of an endless series of practical jokes and pranks of various sorts. Perozzi (Philippe Noiret) works on the night desk of a newspaper, reporting on crime. Mascetti (Ugo Tognazzi), an aristocrat, has seen better days. They are joined in mischief by Melandri (Gastone Moschin) and Necci (Duilio DelPrete), an architect and a cafe-owner by profession respectively. When the town doctor (Adolfo Celi) manages to outwit the collective efforts of the four, he is soon invited to join their little club. The rhythms of life in a cheerful provincial town are effectively unveiled in this zany and affectionate film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ugo Tognazzi, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1972
This mildly amusing satire of Italian marital customs concerns a meek bank teller (Dustin Hoffman) who has an affair with pretty Carla Gravina, then learns that he is unable to get a divorce from his tiresome wife (Stefania Sandrelli). Hoffman learned his lines in Italian before making Alfredo, Alfredo, only to discover that it was being filmed in English and redubbed. Although it has its moments, the film has aged badly, particularly with regard to its views of women, who are portrayed as either sex kittens or shrews. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Stefania Sandrelli, (more)
- 1971
What started out as a one-night stand grows more complicated as television news-reporter Luigi (Gianni Morandi) encounters the traditional values not only of his girlfriend (Stefania Casini), but of the tiny provincial fishing village in which she lives. Through a series of events, he comes to prefer the more settled values of the countryside to the swinging ways of the big city. This film is notable as the first film appearance of the Italian pop singer Gianni Morandi. This Italian language film has no dubbing or subtitles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
Serafino (Adriano Celentano) is an illiterate shepherd who lives in the bucolic splendor of the Abruzis mountains. He takes frequent and amorous forays into the village below where he experiences all the pleasures his solitude cannot offer. He is quickly drafted into the military but is dismissed just as fast when he fails to adapt to the rigid discipline and his urban surroundings. He once again takes comfort in the arms of many females eager to make him forget his army life. An uncle dies and leaves him some money and property, but it is claimed by greedy relatives and he gains nothing. In a desperate attempt to survive, Serafino is forces to marry a woman of ill repute who is the mother of four children. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Ottavia Piccolo, (more)
- 1967
A philandering violinist must witness the consequences of his actions in this Italian comedy. Not only does the concert violinist have a wife and kids, he also has two mistresses, all of whom he dearly loves. Whenever he goes on tour, he is sure to give them all a loving call. Just as his newest mistress is about to give birth, the musician goes to confession to talk about his situation. The priest suggests he divorce his wife, but the fiddler refuses, asserting that the women all need him. Unfortunately the stress of maintaining three lovers causes him to have a fatal coronary while he tries to call his wife. As he goes to heaven and gets to watch his own funeral, he wonders if his wife ever knew of the others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ugo Tognazzi, Stefania Sandrelli, (more)
- 1966
Pietro Germi's funny anthology combines the standard sex comedy format with some unexpectedly subtle observations about village life. The film centers on three stories exposing the sexual secrets of the Italian town of Treviso. Toni Gasparini (Alberto Lionello) pretends to be impotent in order to wrangle an illicit affair with his doctor's wife. Bank clerk Osvaldo Bisigato (Gastone Moschin) leaves his shrewish wife (Nora Ricci) to move in with his mistress Milena (Virna Lisi), a cafe cashier, but Treviso's jealous husbands unite to cost the lovers their jobs and have them arrested. Meanwhile, most of the village's men are busy seducing a promiscuous teenager (Patrizia Valturri), whose father eventually reveals that she is underage. Franco Fabrizi, Beba Loncar, and cult filmmaker Giulio Questi are among the cast, and Carlo Rustichelli provided the score. Signore e Signori won the Best Film award at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virna Lisi, Gastone Moschin, (more)
- 1965
It is no doubt extremely difficult to produce a film which is respectful of a world-renowned and widely loved man, recently deceased, who was considered to be either a saint or well on the way to being one. This unusual biographical film is based on writings (published and unpublished) of Pope John XXIII (born in a peasant family as Angelo Roncalli), who in his short tenure in the papacy began the Second Vatican Council and attempted to reform and liberalize many doctrines of the church, including encouraging the unification of Christians and of all humanity. Every pope after him has been busily attempting to undo most of his liberalizing legacy. This film presents the innovator in his own words, through the device of a narrator (in English, this is Rod Steiger), as he recounts some of the experiences of his life, especially as an ambulance driver in World War II. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Adolfo Celi, (more)
Mistakenly labeled as a neorealist drama in some sources, Seduced and Abandoned is actually a slyly constructed Italian domestic comedy (could anyone have really taken that florid title seriously?) Aldo Puglisi plays a "love 'em and leave 'em" type who impregnates the teen-aged sister (Stefania Sandrelli) of his own fiancee (Paola Biggio). Saro Urzi, the girls' infuriated father, insists that Puglisi break off with the older girl to marry the younger. The police get into the act, threatening to arrests Puglisi for corrupting the morals of a minor. Through some quick thinking on his part, Puglisi manages to get the younger girl to indignantly refuse his hand in marriage. The family is torn asunder by this incident, with darkly comic results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefania Sandrelli, Saro Urzi, (more)
To fully appreciate the international box-office bonanza Divorce, Italian Style (Divorzio All'Italiana), one must remember that back in 1962, divorce was illegal in Italy. Ferdinando Cefalú(Marcello Mastroianni) would love to unload his demanding, sex-starved, monumentally unappealing wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), but he can't take the legal means open to his American counterparts. Ferdinando can, however, kill off his wife and receive a light sentence...provided he catches the lady committing adultery. The trick now is to make his plate-of-potatoes spouse attractive enough so that some other man will accommodate Ferdinando by cuckolding him. Divorce, Italian Style not only cleaned up financially, but also won several international film awards, as well as an Oscar nomination for Marcello Mastroianni. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, (more)
- 1960
In this mystery, a 13-year old girl gets a crush on her good looking neighbor and soon finds herself entangled in a murder case when a prostitute is found dead in their apartment building. To create an alibi for himself, the handsome neighbor begins encouraging the girl's infatuation with him. In the end, the girl changes her mind about the neighbor and tells all to the police. Unfortunately, they, thinking she is acting out of spite, disbelieve her. A kindly inspector suggests that the girl's mother send her to a convent for protection. He then changes his mind and decides to look into the case; he soon discovers that the girl told the truth. The neighbor is arrested just before he marries an heiress. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brice, Giorgia Moll, (more)
- 1960
The original Italian is La Viaccia (the name of the family farm which motivates the plot). The death of a wealthy patriarch in 1885 sets off an interfamily power struggle. Son Ferdinando buys out his other relatives in order to gain full control over the dead man's property. But Ferdinando's country-bumpkin nephew Amerigo holds out. Amerigo's stance is weakened when he heads for the city and meets prostitute Bianca. To support her in the manner in which she is accustomed, Amerigo steals from his uncle. Disgraced in the eyes of his family, Amerigo decides to stay near his beloved Bianca by becoming a bouncer in her brothel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale, (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)
- 1959
A puzzling crime case is methodically worked out to a solution in this excellent suspense drama by director (and lead actor) Pietro Germi. Inspector Ingravallo (Germi) is charged with an investigation into the murder of the wife of Remo Banducci (Claudio Gora). The good inspector is only human, and he lets his instincts, as well as his personal feelings about people, guide him in his unraveling of the mystery. This technique makes for a close observation of interpersonal relationships, and they dominate the story. In the end, both the murder mystery and the qualities and characteristics of the people involved in the drama share center stage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pietro Germi, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1958
Though generally successful, L'Uomo di Paglia (A Man of Straw) is hampered by two of director Pietro Germi's most characteristic creative shortcomings: overlength and oversimplification. Germi himself plays the leading role, a young husband and father named Andrea Zaccardi. When he falls in love with another woman (Franca Bettoja), Zaccardi begins to neglect his family. Things get worse when his emotionally unstable mistress commits suicide. Though his wife and son forgive him, Zaccardi somehow knows that his life has forever been altered, and that neither he nor his family will ever truly be happy again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pietro Germi, Luisa della Noce, (more)
Pietro Germi is both star and director of Il Ferroviere. Germi plays Andrea, a railroad engineer with a large and troublesome family. Faced with a choice between supporting his fellow workers in a strike and keeping his family fed, Andrea opts for the latter. Branded a scab by his former cohorts, he is likewise given the cold shoulder by his wife and children. Drowning his disappointment in liquor, Andrea is saved from self-destruction when his youngest son decides to forgive and forget. Il Ferroviere was released in the U.S. as The Railroad Man and Man of Iron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pietro Germi, Luisa della Noce, (more)
- 1954
Peter Reynolds stars as the son of a respectable British family, who despite his position and privilege chooses to pursue a life of crime. Starting with petty thievery, the misguided young man intends to cap his career with a major casino heist. A policeman (Patric Barr), in love with the young man's sister (Rona Anderson), figures out the boys' intentions and sets about to prevent the robbery. When the chips are down, the malfeasant shows what a rat he truly is, thereby losing whatever family loyalty his sister might have felt towards him. The villain's ultimate demise is befitting his loathsome personality. Produced in England, Black 13 was released stateside by 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Reynolds, Rona Anderson, (more)
- 1953
One need not be fluent in Italian to figure out that Gelosia translates to Jealousy. Set in 19th-century Sicily, the film traces the tragic romance between a wealthy Marquis (Erno Crisa) and low-born servant girl Agrippina (Marisa Belli). Because he is forbidden to marry the girl, the Marquis asks his faithful lackey Don Sylvio (Alessandro Fersen) to wed Agrippina "in name only," so that she may remain in his household without arousing suspicion. Despite Don Sylvio's loyalty, the Marquis eventually goes insane with jealousy. As a result, few of the cast members are still breathing at film's end. Gelosia was based on a novel by Luigi Capuana. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marisa Belli, Erno Crisa, (more)
- 1952
Based loosely on fact, La Presidentress stars Silvana Pampanini as a sexy nightclub singer with loftier aspirations. Posing as the wife of a judge, the singer manages to bed a high-ranking government official (Carlo Dapporto). As a result, the nonplused judge (Luigi Pavese) is given all sorts of promotions and special perks. When he finds out about the girl's subterfuge, his first reaction is stark, raw terror: Wait till his real wife (Ave Ninchi) discovers what's going on! When the judge's former mistress (Marilyn Buferd) joins the fray, the fur really begins to fly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Carlo Dapporto, (more)
- 1952
Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo represented another move away from neorealism into sheer commercialism by Italian filmmker Pietro Germi. The story is set in the 1860s, when the Northern and Southern regions of Italy were forcibly assembled into a unified whole. A bandit loyal to the idea of Southern sovereignty wreaks havoc upon the forces of Northern Italy. In depicting the exploits of the bandit and the diligence of his military pursuers, director Germi is careful not to take sides, mirroring the political confusion rampant in Italy at the time of the story. When distributed to the U.S., Il Brigante di Tacca del Lupo was advertised along the lines of a Civil War epic --which, for all intents and purposes, it was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amedeo Nazzari, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1950
Disciples of Italian filmmaker Pietro Germi have noted the stylistic influence of Hollywood's John Ford in Germi's neorealist Il Camino Della Speranza. The story concerns the plight of illegal immigration, as experienced by a pair of Sicilian miners. Unable to find work in their own country, the protagonists embark on a long and arduous journey to the French border, with immigration officials nipping at their heels every step of the way. Structurally, the film resembles Ford's Stagecoach, right down to the upbeat denouement, wherein one sympathetic authority figure decides "to heck with the rules." Heading the cast is Italian movie favorite Raf Vallone. Germi co-wrote the film with Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raf Vallone, Elena Varzi, (more)
- 1950
Gina Lollobrigida has top billing in Four Ways Out, but the film's dramatic weight is carried by its male stars. The story concerns a quartet of hard-luck cases, played by Renato Baldini, Enzo Maggio, Paul Muller and Fausto Tozzi. Feeling as though the cards have been stacked against them in life (and not without reason), the foursome turns to crime. The film's setpiece, the robbery of a stadium box-office while a soccer game is in progress, bears a passing resemblance to the key scene in Stanley Kubrick's later The Killing, though it is obvious that Kubrick did not in any way imitate the earlier film stylistically. One of the collaborators on the script for Four Ways Out was Federico Fellini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Renato Baldini, (more)
- 1949
Young Italian magistrate Schiavi (Massimo Girotti) finds the going rough when he assumes his new post in a small Sicilian town. The villagers are held in thrall by the local Mafia branch. Far from being outraged, the populace welcomes the intrusion of organized crime, believing that the Mafia's swift and terrible brand of justice is a lot more effective than the legal kind. It comes down to a war of wills between Schiavi and Mafia-don Passalaqua (Charles Vanel). The only false note struck by this intensely atmospheric film is an inane romantic subplot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Girotti, Camillo Mastrocinque, (more)
