Maurizio Lucidi Movies
- 1996
Italian filmmaker Maurizio Lucidi (La Vittima Designata) returned to the giallo thriller with this Hitchcock-influenced mystery produced by Gioia Maria Scola, a former actress who appeared as a victim in several gialli including Sotto il Vestito Niente II and the marvelous Pathos -- Segreta Inquietudine. Following the obligatory opening shower murder, a lawyer named Doriana (Barbara De Rossi) moves into the apartment where the victim, Corinne (Giada Desideri), had lived. Doriana receives a video of the murder and strange messages on her mirror, suspecting the apartment block's concierge and several other people before the local district attorney poses as a woman to lure the true killer into the open. Gottfried John, Giuliana Calandra (Profondo Rosso), and Massimo Ranieri are among the cast of this tame Italian-German TV co-production. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Over the course of his lifetime, the legendary director Orson Welles (1915-1985) was forced to leave many of his grander movie-making projects unfinished, generally for want of sustained financial backing. Each successive unfinished effort generated buzz throughout the worshipful film community that only served to brighten the luster of his legend. Thus it was only a matter of time before one of his many admirers bought the rights to the fairly extensive footage he shot for his film Don Quixote (begun in 1955) and attempted to edit it into some semblance of a finished film, based on research into Welles' stated intentions and notes. A fuzzy, out-of-focus print of the resulting film was shown at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, and it was immediately deemed as a hashed-up job, a travesty bordering on the sacrilegious, by the assembled deeply interested and knowledgeable viewers. Their criticism focused mainly on issues that ordinary viewers would deem excessively technical, but the gist of it was that this was a very un-Wellesian use of Welles' footage. However, the film does offer viewers a unique opportunity to see some of the master's mature story ideas onscreen. In addition to footage from the film, the movie is also a kind of semi-documentary homage to Welles, showing footage of the famed director at work. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Reiguera, Akim Tamiroff, (more)
- 1976
- R
Two mobsters are given a dangerous assignment in this crime drama. The two must learn which new gang smuggled a large stash of pure heroin into San Francisco and hid it in the cross the Don had imported from Italy and gave to his church. One of the gangsters is the Don's nephew. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Stacy Keach, (more)
- 1975
- R
Wallach and Testi rob a jewelry store, and when Wallach suspects a double cross, he goes to the Stateline Motel to collect the jewels. An Italian The Postman Always Rings Twice ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
Italian action hero Bud Spencer stars in Maurizio Lucidi's comedy Western The Big and the Bad. While wandering through the West (which looks a lot like Spain), Spencer becomes intimate with the gorgeous Dany Saval -- discovering, all too late, that she is the younger sister of vengeful gunslinger Jack Palance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Tomas Milian portrays a cheating husband named Stefanio who falls into a strange relationship with the bohemian Count Mateo (Pierre Clementi) in this intriguing thriller. Earning his trust, Mateo lures Stefanio into a sick psychological game, offering to murder his wife so that the unhappy businessman can be free to pursue his beautiful mistress (Katia Christine). In return, he continues, Stefanio must kill Mateo's brother. Stefanio laughs off the suggestion until the day that his wife is actually murdered and he becomes the prime suspect. As Stefanio's troubles increase, Mateo applies more pressure, finally forcing his frantic, desperate victim to fulfill his part of the bargain. Fine performances and some blatantly Hitchcockian moments in Fulvio Gicca's screenplay help to make director Maurizio Lucidi's film tense and absorbing, if somewhat predictable. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
This uneven comedy finds Fred (Ian McShane) as a writer living off his royalties in Italy. Married to the long-suffering Millie (Ann Calder-Marshall), Fred revels in a series of affairs with a bevy of Italian beauties. Millie soon grows tired of being alone and takes up with two Italian Don Juans (Sammy Pavel and Marino Mase). When she meets Grant Granite (John Gavin), the two immediately fall for each other and are unable to contain their animalistic passion. Joyce Van Patten also appears in this effort that barely scratches the surface of comedy outside of a few running gags. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian McShane, Anna Calder-Marshall, (more)
- 1967
Maurizio Lucidi's disappointing sequel to Il Mio Nome e Pecos (1966) once again stars cult favorite Robert Woods as the Mexican hero, but discards the original's down-and-dirty style in favor of a comical approach. Pecos becomes involved in a search for lost treasure in an Aztec temple, but any similarity between this forced adventure and Raiders of the Lost Ark is purely coincidental. Strained and tiresome, this spaghetti western co-stars Luciana Gilli, Umberto Raho, and Ignazio Spalla (under his usual pseudonym, "Pedro Sanchez"). Filmmaker Fernando DiLeo contributed to the uninspiring script. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Fifteen "monsters of modern Rome" are presented in this Italian episodic drama. Each of these "monsters" is highly misanthropic and nasty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Maurizio Lucidi directed this enjoyable revenge-themed spaghetti western using the pseudonym "Maurice A. Bright." Cult favorite Robert Woods stars as Pecos, a Mexican whose parents were murdered by Joe Kline (Piero Lulli appearing as "Peter Carsten"), a wicked town boss. Pecos murders several people in his quest for Kline's head, and their bodies are quickly collected by a comic-relief gravedigger reminiscent of the one in Sergio Leone's Per un Pugno di Dollari (1964). Genre devotees will enjoy the gritty, violent tone, as well as supporting turns by Lucia Modugno, Massimo Righi (a.k.a. Max Dean), and Luigi Montefiori (a.k.a. George Eastman). Woods returned the following year in Lucidi's frivolous sequel, Pecos e Qui: Prega e Muori. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1966
- Add The Christmas That Almost Wasn't to QueueAdd The Christmas That Almost Wasn't to top of Queue
In this tuneful Italian holiday film a scroogy old miser decides to evict Santa Clause and Company from the North Pole because the dead-beats are behind on their rent. Children from around the world rally 'round the Jolly One and send him their pennies and save the day. Songs include: "Christmas Is Coming," "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't," "Hustle Bustle," "I'm Bad," "Kids Get All the Breaks," "The Name of the Song Is Prune," "Nothing to Do But Wait," "Santa Claus (Round)," "Time for Christmas," "What Are Children Like When They're Fast Asleep?" and "Why Can't Every Day Be Christmas?" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossano Brazzi, Paul Tripp, (more)
- 1966
A Civil War vet returns home to his home in the South and witnesses the outdated attitudes of his family--particularly those of his domineering father. This western drama was filmed on location in Argentina. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Cotten, Gordon Scott, (more)
- 1962
With a setting in medieval Russia and two top film stars leading the action -- Victor Mature as Oleg and Orson Welles as Burundal -- this otherwise uninspired costume drama has its moments. The Vikings and their leader Oleg are pictured as pacifists, while the Tartars and Burundal are the real culprits, evil and brutal. Both factions hold a coveted woman hostage while they try to work out a deal. That tactic fails and as the slaughter and bloodshed mount, a romance between a young, mixed couple (Viking/Tartar) is beginning to heat up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Victor Mature, (more)
- 1962
Regarded by many as Dino Risi's finest film, The Easy Life (Il Sorpasso) casts Vittorio Gassman as Bruno, a jaded, aging roue, who introduces young Roberto Mariani Jean-Louis Trintignant to his hedonistic lifestyle.. Previously a man with a purpose in life, Roberto soon becomes as wanton and wastrelly as Bruno. The older man is proud of his handiwork--until tragedy strikes. Risi sagaciously sets his moral fable against the beauties of the Riviera; we may not approve of Bruno's lifestyle, but we certainly understand why it appeals to him. Among the screenwriters of The Easy Life was Ettora Scola, a frequent Dino Risi and Vittorio de Sica collaborator and an excellent director in his own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1961
Hercules (Reg Park) and King Androcles (Ettore Manni) are on an ocean expedition when Androcles is washed overboard during a storm near a mysterious island. Making landfall, Hercules finds that the island is the kingdom of Atlantis, ruled by a beautiful, cruel, and ambitious queen, Antinea (Fay Spain), who controls a mysterious source of power. She has transformed her personal guard into super-strong warriors -- each nearly a match for Hercules, put Androcles under her spell, and inflicted terrible wounds on her people, all in preparation for her plan to conquer the world. Hercules finds that her power stems from a source older than the gods on Olympus, one over which he has virtually no power. He must save his friend, release Antinea's people, and prevent her from carrying out her plans. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reg Park
- 1960
Steve Reeves trades sandals and togas for the frilly, functional outfits common to 17th-century buccaneers in Morgan the Pirate. As the real-life Sir Henry Morgan, Reeves is sold into slavery and forced to work on a Panama plantation. He is purchased by haughty Valerie Lagrange; they fall in love, and as punishment Reeves is condemned to toil in the galley of a Spanish vessel. He leads an escape, overtakes the ship, and establishes himself as a pirate captain. In true Captain Blood fashion, he eventually catches up with his former amour LaGrange, laying waste to most of Panama in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Reeves, Valerie Lagrange, (more)
On the heels of muscleman Steve Reeves' low-budget Italian sword and sandal epics comes this unintentionally hilarious knock-off that is largely comprised of footage from an Italian mythic epic in which a brawny hero ("Maciste" in Italy and "Goliath" in the US) takes on wicked King Eurystheus' cheesy monsters that included a three headed fire belching dog, a gigantic, murderous bat (both of which appeared in the original film) and a ludicrously unscary dragon (in some scenes, only the huge head shows, while for long-shots the filmmakers used stop animation from Jim Danforth). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Forest, Broderick Crawford, (more)
