February 4, 2020
1951-1960, Carlo Lizzani, Drama, Italy, War
1,432 Views
During the winter of 1944, near Genoa, a group of Italian partisans embark on a mission to recover weaponry from a factory controlled by the Nazis. This is a gritty and gripping war drama starring Andrea Checchi and Gina Lollobrigida.
It is also the first feature film directed by Carlo Lizzani, who had spent the years up to this point making a series of short documentaries, as well as working as scriptwriter and assistant director to Roberto Rossellini, Alberto Lattuada and Giuseppe De Santis. Read More »
November 28, 2019
1951-1960, Comedy, Drama, Italy, Mario Monicelli, Steno
1,672 Views
An industrialist has his wife tailed because he secretly hopes she is betraying him so that he can ask for a divorce and marry the model he’s fallen in love with. This leads to a series of thefts, blackmail and a suicide as well. Read More »
November 13, 2019
1961-1970, Comedy, Melvin Frank, Romance, USA
1,797 Views
Synopsis:
During World War II, an Italian villager (Gina Lollobrigida) befriends three American soldiers. Later, when unsure which of them fathered the daughter she has, she invents a dead captain named Campbell, declares herself his widow and accepts support checks from all three soldiers. Twenty years later, a reunion unexpectedly brings the three veterans — and their wives and children — back to Italy. Mrs. Campbell panics as she endeavors to keep her lively past from her daughter. Read More »
August 25, 2019
1941-1950, Classics, Comedy, Italy, Mario Monicelli, Steno
1,733 Views
Synopsis:
Tragicomedy telling of the trials and tribulations of a troupe of variety show artists. Read More »
July 31, 2019
1941-1950, Classics, Drama, Italy, Luigi Zampa
1,512 Views
Agostina is a maid turned prostitute during World War II. She sends all the money she makes to the local priest in her home village for safekeeping. After the war is over, Agostina and her friend plan to open a clothing store so they return to her home island to collect the money from the priest. But after arriving there, Agostina learns in shock that the priest has been dead for more than a year and that his eccentric successor mistook the received money for donations and spent all of it on building a new orphanage for war orphans. To make matters worse, other islanders think that Agostina is now a millionaire and beg her to help them financially. Read More »
June 19, 2019
Drama, 1951-1960, France, Robert Siodmak, Romance
2,195 Views
Quote:
Not really epic material, this is a fated romantic drama (a typically French quality) set against the exotic background of the Foreign Legion and, actually, a remake of Jacques Feyder’s 1934 film LE GRAND JEU.
The plot involves a successful young lawyer (Jean-Claude Pascal) who, due to a shady deal, finds himself penniless and separated from his wife (Gina Lollobrigida). Stranded in Algeria, he’s persuaded to join the Foreign Legion where he befriends a couple of similar losers (played by Raymond Pellegrin and Peter van Eyck). Read More »
April 17, 2019
1951-1960, Classics, Drama, France, Jean Delannoy
3,424 Views
Paris, 1482. Today is the festival of the fools, taking place like each year in the square outside Cathedral Notre Dame. Among jugglers and other entertainers, Esmeralda, a sensuous gypsy, performs a bewitching dance in front of delighted spectators. From up in a tower of the cathedral, Frollo, an alchemist, gazes at her lustfully. Later in the night, Frollo orders Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer and his faithful servant, to kidnap Esmeralda. But when the ugly freak comes close to her is touched by the young woman’s beauty… Read More »
