Pipolo Movies

Perhaps taking a cue from the popular 1970s Brit television comedy "Are You Being Served?," this Italian department store comedy is a series of skits involving customers and store personnel from several departments. In one skit, Elena (Laura Antonelli) and her husband the personnel director, are certain that an inept salesman in the bathroom fixtures department is actually the son of the store's owner. They launch into a campaign to woo him over without bothering to check up on his credentials. In another skit, the famous Italian actress Ornella Muti, playing herself, walks into one of the men's departments and sends a salesclerk into near heart failure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Four popular Italian comedians (Adriano Celentano, Carlo Verdone, Enrico Montesano, and Diego Abantantuono), at the time this film was shot, play characters who either work in or visit a large hotel. Each comedian reprises some of the roles or attitudes that made him famous in a series of connected vignettes. Unfortunately, the supposedly comic treatment of women and one black bellhop carry enough outmoded gender and racial stereotypes to offend more than a few viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Taming of the Shrew in Italian is also a take off on the 1970 French film L'ours et la Poupee, and showcases the popular singer/comedian Adriano Celentano as an irascible country farmer named Elia, who locks horns with Lisa (Ornella Muti), a gorgeous society snob. Elia is a notoriously obnoxious, confirmed bachelor. The story begins as Lisa finds herself seeking help at Elia's farmhouse when her car breaks down on a rainy night. Elia's maid (Edith Peters) has been after Elia to marry a good woman and when she opens the door to Lisa, the action starts to head toward fulfillment of the maid's wishes. Lisa's beauty is not only ignored by Elia right away, he also treats her quite rudely -- a new experience for her. So Lisa decides to "conquer" him simply because the challenge presents itself. Much to her chagrin, nothing she attempts has the expected effect on Elia, who remains miraculously impervious to her very obvious charms. When Lisa accepts defeat and leaves for Milan, Elia undergoes a change of heart. His slow reaction time only leads to a deeper and more intensive longing for Lisa, and the second half of the film is involved with their involvement. There is one final accomplishment waiting for Elia just before the ending that shows his interests have not been completely subverted to the new pursuit of love and its pleasures. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Guido (Italian pop-music superstar Adriano Celentano) is a millionaire who has made his fortune by inventing an unbreakable glass. He has everything he wants except for casual sex from a woman who knows nothing of his wealth. While riding the subway, his Rolex watch is lifted by the beautiful felonious female Tilli (Eleanora Giorgi). Guido falls for Tilli and spends the rest of his time trying to keep his identity a secret from her and her larcenous family. Celentano plays the role with slapstick flair reminiscent of Jerry Lewis and the smooth deportment of Cary Grant. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Three episodes of slapstick sexual comedy comprise this film. In the first, a young priest is deserted by his flock until an American protestant minister comes to town with his lovely wife. When the parishioners are convinced that their priest has proved his manhood with the minister's wife, church attendance resumes. In the second episode, a travelling salesman is challenged by the nearly nude state of a lovely female hitchhiker. In the third episode, a woman trying to collect information on her philandering husband, in order to divorce him, is seated on an airplane next to a man who is deathly afraid of flying. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This Italian western comedy has no shooting deaths, but a lot of fistfights. Provvidenza is a bounty hunter. He makes his living solely by catching his dim but powerful friend, the Hurricane Kid (Gregg Palmer) and turning him in for the reward money. A fully armed horseless carriage is one of the inventive elements of this film. One of the film's sillier highlights is an amazingly loud and long belch by the Kid. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Amazing Dr. G is an alternate title for the Italian-American spoof Dr. Goldfoot and His Girl Bombs. Vincent Price repeats his characterization of the megalomaniac Goldfoot from 1965's Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, and also plays a secondary role as a kidnapped US general. This time, Dr. G. intends to undermine America by unleashing an army of voluptuous, exploding female robots. The detonation device is located in the girls' belly buttons, which should indicate the level of humor around these parts. The popular Italian comedy team of Franco and Ciccio do their frenetic best to raise a few yocks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This three-part Italian comedy with several pretty females is another in a long series of gang-directed efforts. Director Masimo Franciosa adds a surrealistic touch to "The Shower," the story of a dedicated husband who takes a liking to extramarital affairs. "The World Belongs To The Rich" is directed by Mino Guerrini and concerns an office worker who is tricked by his co-workers into believing he has won the lottery and become a millionaire. Guiliano Montaldo directs "The Swedish Wife" in which a husband (Renato Salvatori) shocks his traditional Italian family by returning from his honeymoon with an unconventional Swedish beauty. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide