Gennaro Righelli Movies
- 1947
The Italian Peddlin' in Society was originally released as Da Bancarella a Bancarotta. Anna Magnani stars as Gioconda, a fruit vendor who supplements her income by trafficking in black-market goods. Making her fortune, Gioconda tries to crash society, leasing a lavish villa for this purpose. Alas, she eventually falls victim to sycophants and leeches who try to use her new social position for their own gain. Vittorio de Sica co-stars as an impoverished count who briefly serves as Anna Magnani's conduit into the Upper Crust. It is clear that both stars were directing themselves, since official director Gennaro Righelli exhibits stylistic uncertainty throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
- 1939
The title of this Italian film translates as Fireworks, and indeed what happens in the course of the story is quite explosive at times. Amedeo Nazzari stars as a handsome young count who, after several years in New York, returns to Italy with nary a lire to his name. The villagers in his home town believe that the Count is still wealthy, thus they extend him unlimited credit upon his return. Mario Porelli co-stars as the Count's secretary, who takes advantage of the villagers' generosity to make a fortune in the stock market, thereby replenishing our hero's family coffers. The Count is also able to avoid a marriage to a rich but homely heiress and find happiness with his true love. The film was based on a popular stage farce by Luigi Charelli. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amedeo Nazzari, Luigi Chiarini, (more)
- 1938
L'Allegro Cantante was released outside of Italy as The Merry Singer. The title succinctly describes the hero, played with panache by popular tenor Giovanni Manurita. The plot deals with a music-loving chap who hides his singing talents under a bushel-basket by working with a horse-show concern. His life takes an unexpected turn when he joins the search for a long-lost heiress. When he locates the child and is permitted to share her 7,000,000 lire legacy-there is nothing for our hero to do but burst into song, which he does again and again. Even when he loses all the money, he manages to retain his good spirits and expansive singing talents, ultimately finding lasting success on the concert stage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Germana Paolieri
- 1937
Pensaci Giacomino (Think of It, Jack) is a showcase for the talents of popular Italian character actor Angelo Musco. Adapted from a 1916 play by Luigi Pirandello, the story concentrates on a 70-year-old professor (Musco) who weds a 20-year-old girl (Dria Paola) over her parents' objections. Despite his friends' suspicions, the professor's motives are chaste and honorable: the girl has given birth to an illegitimate child by another man, and our hero simply wants to make an "honest woman" of her and to secure her financial future. He even arranges a well-paying job for the girl's seducer, who behaves atrociously until the professor reawakens the cad's conscience in the final scenes. As noted by theatrical historian John Russell Taylor, the message of Pensaci Giacomino is "live and let live" -- something that the old professor's detractors refuse to allow him to do until the very last moment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1937
This Italian comedy satirically borrows its title from a passage in Dante's Inferno ("Abandon hope, all ye who enter here"). Based on a popular stage play, the film stars Antonio Gandusio as a young man who sees an image of the poet Dante in a dream. The long-departed Dante advises our hero to play a specific lottery number, which will bring him untold riches. But there's a catch: if Gandusio follows Dante's advice, his doom will be sealed -- and he'll know exactly the day on which he will die. Awakening from his dream, Gandusio impulsively plays the proscribed lottery number and of course wins big. He spends the rest of the picture trying to prevent the rest of Dante's prophecy from coming true. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maria Denis
- 1931
Canzon del L'Amore (Song of Love) was based on Silence, a novel by Luigi Pirandello. Hoping to save her mother from disgrace, Lucia (Dria Paola) takes it upon herself to raise her mom's illegitimate child. Not only does she insist upon keeping the child's parentage a secret, but Lucia also cuts herself off from her fiance so that she can devote all her time to surrogate motherhood. Ultimately, both the fiancee and the baby's father come back into her life offering to marry her, but she turns them both down. While the Pirandello original ends on an unhappy note, the film takes a more positive approach. A German-language version of Canzon Del L'Amore, Liebeslied, was filmed simultaneously. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isa Pola
