Francesco De Robertis

Hell Raiders of the Deep

A crack team of Italian naval divers plan to attach high explosives to the hulls of Royal navy warships anchored in Gibraltar harbour.

The White Ship

Although released anonymously, as was the custom with all films produced by the Italian Navy, La Nave Bianca is the first feature-length effort directed by Roberto Rossellini; it is also very much the work of its co-writer and supervisor Francesco De Robertis. The film combines a documentary look at the Italian Navy during World War II with newsreel combat footage and a scripted love story performed by non-professional actors.

The Simple Life

Marco and his son Toto work in a Venetian gondola yard and maintain the old traditions of gondoliers. When a newly-arrived businessman decides he wants to buy the yard and demolish it, Marco and company want to fight to preserve their way of life. The businessman, however, knows Marco is badly in debt and uses this to try to leverage Marco out of business. Can tradition win out in the face of naked commercialism?

The Woman Who Came from the Sea

Angelo

An Italian man is released from prison after World War II, excited to meet the son his late wife had while he was away, only to be shocked when he discovers that the son is half-black, the result of an encounter between his wife and an American GI. Released in America as "Angelo"

Fantasmi del mare

Evocation of a dramatic episode of the Second World War told by an old guard. Boarded as a non-commissioned officer on the battleship sailed from Pola and headed south. In time of danger, the man is forced to sacrifice the lives of seven sailors and the son of the Captain, his good friend, in order to save the rest of the crew.

Heroic Charge

In 1941 an Italian regiment known as the Savoy Cavalry is sent by Mussolini to Russia to assist the German invasion. After crossing an extensive area of Soviet territory the men arrive at a village that seems deserted. A patrol sent on reconnaissance comes under machine-gun fire from the top of a bell-tower.

Sailors Without Stars

The story of two boys, who enrol in a navy academy for boys.