Luigi Zampa

PLOT:
Starring in this bustling summer comedy are Vittorio Gassman (an army captain terrified of falling in love with Gigi, a cabaret transvestite who instead turns out to be a charming girl), Amedeo Nazzari (icon of masculine beauty of our cinema of the 40’s, which lends himself to the irony of this film going into the shoes of a fashion wearer a bit too over the years, trying to win back his girlfriend, and boss, making her jealous by bragging a relationship with a girl, Foschina, much younger than him), Philippe Leroy (nonchalant young Tuscan who teaches swimming to beautiful foreign girls and meanwhile “plays” at being a small entrepreneur in the field of advertising, causing instead lots of trouble and involving poor Luigi into them) and Sandra Milo (buxom and “generous” hot donuts vendor, who ends up taking care of an ill-fated Spanish cyclist, played by Vittorio Congia).Read More »

In this interesting Italian WW II comedy-drama, the residents of a remote Italian village find their lives forever changed when two American GIs break out of a German prison camp and hide out in their town. The fugitives are harbored by a local family. This divides the town into those wanting to protect them and those fearing German retribution. When a young German officer arrives to watch the town, tension mounts. One of the GIs is an African American and one night he gets terribly drunk and stumbles into the officer who is also rip-roaring drunk. The two end up continuing their bender together and no fighting erupts.Read More »

Turn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by police authorities. In charge is a young and courageous judge who, using evidence discovered by chance, tries to reconstruct the story of the double murder. The plot that the judge must unravel is very complicated. Many people are questioned, even those apparently above suspicion. Deciding to get to the bottom of the matter, the judge keeps all the suspects under arrest, causing a backlash of public opinion. Read More »

Quote:
Another fine Italian neo-realist drama. Focussing on post-war poverty and the struggle for housing, this film has all the key elements: characters living in makeshift houses, lots of dirty infants, upheaval and total disinterest from the beaurocratic machine. Anna Magnani puts in a superb performance as the distraught, struggling and feisty mother, determined to make a better life for herself and those around her.
RosethornRead More »

Review Summary
This comedic social satire mercilessly lampoons Italy’s ineffectual health-care system that allows for corruption and mass hypochondria. An ambitious Dr. Tersilli (Alberto Sordi) bets his fellow doctors that he can amass more patients and benefits than they can. Learning the ins-and-outs of the system, his office is soon jammed with patients seeking treatment for a variety of real or imagined maladies. The beginning of the film opens with the doctor’s collapse due to exhaustion in his fervent goal to see over 2,000 patients. The remainder of the film flashes back to how the vibrant young physician is turned into a frail patient who must stay at home and dispense advise over the telephone. ~Read More »

Aldo Piscitello, a minor government clerk, is forced in 1934 to join the Fascist party. When the war comes, he finds himself able only to talk ineffectually in secret against Mussolini, even as his own son Giovanni is sent into battle. By the end of the war, Aldo has found the courage to stand up for his beliefs, but by then it is too late.Read More »

In this delightful romantic comedy, four beautiful women attempt to deal with their sexual frustrations in fashionable Rome society.Read More »

IMDB PLOT
Turn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by police authorities. In charge is a young and courageous judge who, using evidence discovered by chance, tries to reconstruct the story of the double murder. The plot that the judge must unravel is very complicated. Many people are questioned, even those apparently above suspicion. Deciding to get to the bottom of the matter, the judge keeps all the suspects under arrest, causing a backlash of public opinion.Read More »

A female school teacher is implicated in a murder in a Sicilian town only hours after her arrival. The dead man insulted her on the bus on the way into town. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes clear that the town is hiding some very sinister secrets.Read More »