The Ligurian Riviera, summertime. Aristarco is the manager of an unattractive opera singer and hopes to enjoy her money someday. Around the couple, the lives of other vacationers unfold: rich Clara, who has a crush on young and penniless Walter; Doriana, an actress in search of a good match, who falls in love with a lifeguard instead; and Sandro, who shuts an eye to the moves Commendatore Ferrari is making on his wife, in hopes of getting some financial help from the man. In the meantime, Inspector Mazzoni has fallen in love with a French prisoner he is escorting to the border and plans on running away with her. “Bitter stories: some of them, like the one about the singer and her paramour, are even disconcerting. The Riviera sky and sea wrap them in light and charm, but they are all toxic. Moravia’s scalpel, part truth and part sarcasm, lances boils full of pus. One story fits perfectly into the next, thanks to the excellent screenplay. This, too, is due to Franciolini; and also to the good performances of the actors.” ( “Corriere della Sera,” November 29, 1958). Proiezione in collaborazione con la Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale
Biography
film director
Gianni Franciolini
Gianni Franciolini (Florence, Italy, 1910 - Rome, Italy, 1960) worked as an assistant director in France before returning to Italy and directing his first feature-length film, L’ispettore Vargas, in 1940, which was followed two years later by the melodrama Fari nella nebbia. In 1952, he made Hello Elephant, which was written by Cesare Zavattini and starred Vittorio De Sica. The next year, he directed The World Condemns Them. He directed the film transposition of Roman Tales by Alberto Moravia, who also wrote the story of his next film, Girls for the Summer. In 1959, he directed Vittorio De Sica once again in what was to be his last film, Ferdinando I re di Napoli.
FILMOGRAFIA
L’ispettore Vargas (1940), Fari nella nebbia (1942), Giorni felici (1942), Addio, amore! (1945), Notte di tempesta (1946), Amanti senza amore (1947), La sposa non può attendere (1949), Ultimo incontro (1951), Buongiorno, elefante! (1952), Il mondo le condanna (1953), Siamo donne (ep. Alida Valli, 1953), Villa Borghese (1953), Secrets d’alcôve (ep. Le divorce; Il letto, ep. Il divorzio, cm, 1953), Le signorine dello 04 (1955), Racconti romani (1955), Peccato di castità (1956), Racconti d’estate (1958), Ferdinando I Re di Napoli (1959).
Cast
& Credits
regia/director
Gianni Franciolini
soggetto/story
Alberto Moravia
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Sergio Amidei, Edoardo Anton, René Barjavel, Ennio Flaiano, Gianni Franciolini, Alberto Moravia, Rodolfo Sonego, Alberto Sordi
fotografia/cinematography
Enzo Serafin
montaggio/film editing
Adriana Novelli
scenografia/production design
Giorgio Giovannini
costumi/costume design
Ugo Pericoli
musica/music
Piero Piccioni
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Alberto Sordi (Aristarco Bertolini), Franca Marzi (Clara), Ennio Girolami (Walter), Dorian Gray (Doriana), Marcello Mastroianni (Marcello Mazzoni), Michèle Morgan (Micheline), Franco Fabrizi (Sandro Morandi), Sylva Koscina (Renata Morandi), Gabriele Ferzetti (Giulio Ferrari), Jorge Mistral (Romualdo), Lorella De Luca (Lina), Anita Allan (Ada Gallotti), Dany Carell (Jacqueline)
produttore/producer
Mario Cecchi Gori
produzione/production
Gallus Films, Maxima Film Compagnia Cinematografica, Monteluce Film