Alfredo Giannetti Movies
Italian screenwriter and director Alfredo Giannetti was at his most successful when he was collaborating with director/screenwriter Pietro Germi. Their best-known cooperative effort was the enormously popular comedy Divorzio All'Italiana/Divorce Italian Style (1962), which earned Giannetti and co-writers Ennio de Concini and Germi an Oscar. Other well-known Giannetti and Germi films include L'Immorale (1967) and Serafino (1968). The writer began his four-decade-long career in 1953 when Giuseppe De Santis filmed Giannetti's script A Husband for Anna, which he co-wrote with Cesare Zavattini, Elio Petri and Gianni Puccini. He began his association with Germi with Il Ferroviere/The Railroad Man (1956). Though he remained primarily a screenwriter, Giannetti would periodically helm films; he made his directorial debut in 1961 with Giorno per Giorno Disperatmente. In addition to working with Germi, he also worked with such directors as Dino Risi. In the early 1970s, Giannetti directed a series of historical dramas featuring the reclusive actress Anna Magnani in her final screen roles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Mitzi (Hanna Schygulla) turns to Sandor (Marcello Mastroianni) for help when her husband is murdered by right-wing extremists looking for a cache of diamonds. She and her young son escape with Sandor to Italy. By the 1930s, they return to Budapest to run the successful Arizona Club, a posh watering hole for the social elite. Mitzi falls for an American journalist, her son falls for a woman with ties to high-ranking Nazis, and Sandor is questioned about his Jewish heritage. The son learns he is half Jewish as the Nazi round-up and deportation begin. Uneven editing in places suggests that a lot of film ended up on the cutting-room floor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Hanna Schygulla, (more)
- 1976
Ettore (Giacomo Piperno) is a charming child at home; on the streets, he is a regular terror. He and his gang of children steal brazenly from the rich, and often engage in rape. After his father is imprisoned for a bungled theft, Ettore quits school and takes a job as a waiter in a bar that specializes in delivering meals to offices and wealthy customers. He has an affair with a rich girl, who shows him another side of life. However, when his father gets out of jail, Ettore masterminds a series of thefts using his experience as a delivery boy in rich neighborhoods. These capers make it possible for his happy family to possess its own bar, managed by the ever-wily Ettore. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giacomo Piperno
- 1972
In this politically conscious Italian drama a woman's working-class husband becomes the prisoner of the Vatican after he commits political crimes. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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
In this romance, a middle-aged playboy finds himself running his father's fur business after his father's death. He continues to allow his papa's mistress to run the business. The playboy's fiancee gets pregnant and he refuses to marry her. She dumps him in favor of his best friend. Soon the selfish man finds himself deserted by all his friends. He winds up involved with his father's patiently waiting lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
This episodic film is for those who have ever wondered about the lives of the people who buy beds in a furniture store. Each story presents a vignette from the life of a customer. One is a hotel proprietor who generously allows two young men to stay in his room. He has no idea that one of those men is messing around with his daughter. In another chapter a psychiatrist burns with unfulfilled passion because his wife will not make love to him. Other sketches follow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylva Koscina, France Anglade, (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)
- 1962
In this effective though still slightly uneven drama about mental illness, the worsening condition of a highly disturbed son wreaks havoc on the rest of the family. Dario (Thomas Milian) has episodes when he becomes violently insane yet his mother (Madeleine Robinson) refuses to put him in an institution where he can be professionally helped. Her desperate clinging to the belief that Dario will get better starts to wear away the equilibrium of the two other members of the family, the father (Tino Carraro) and Dario's brother, Gabriele (Nino Castelnuovo). In the end, the continued presence of Dario and his mother's near-fanatical insistence that he will recover create tragic consequences for everyone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Nino Castelnuovo, (more)
- 1962
In this Spanish adventure, the trouble begins when it is revealed that the ruler of Catalonia has been replaced by his evil twin brother. Unfortunately for him, the despot forgot about his murdered brother's son--the rightful heir. He enlists the assistance of the Castillian soldiers and reclaims his throne. To strengthen the newly formed bond between Castile and Catalonia a royal wedding ensues and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 196z
A count and his mother (recently widowed) find themselves drifting into a bizarre relationship, which sets into motion several odd occurrences. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 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)
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)
