European Nights

Soldier's Girl

Anita, a free Emilian girl falls in love with Salvatore, a Neapolitan bersagliere. The two would like to get married, but he drowns while bathing in the river. From that moment the woman is unable to love anyone else because, at the most beautiful, the ghost of her fiancé appears to her who, in the end, will be able to be followed in the other world.

I Love, You Love

Documentary directed by Alessandro Blasetti.

A Very Handy Man

In late 19th century Sicily, handsome free-spirit Liolà wanders into town, where he encounters an old flame now married to a wealthy landowner.

A Difficult Life

Silvio refuses to fight for the fascists and joins the resistance with Elena. After the war, his vitriolic newspaper articles cause him to be sentenced to imprisonment.

Bellissima

Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.

Four Steps in the Clouds

Travelling family man Paolo agrees to pose as husband to an unwed pregnant girl he meets on a train. However, once faced with her father, things do not go as planned.

Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita

Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past. The film city was solemnly inaugurated in 1937 by Mussolini. Here, propaganda films would be produced to strengthen the dictator's position.

The Duchess of Parma

La Contessa di Parma was the sole directorial contribution by Allesandro Blasetti in 1937. The first of several expensive costume dramas upon which the director established his international reputation, the film stars Elisa Cegani as Marcella, a model in the dress shop owned by enterprising Umberto Melnati. To improve his business, the owner instructs his models to dress up as society ladies and attend all the best parties. And that's how humble little Marcella comes to be mistaken for the popular Duchess of Parma -- and by extension, how our heroine wins the love of football hero Gino Vanni (Antonio Centa). A little wanting in the way of plot or logic, La Constessa di Parma is at least consistently good to look at.

Too Bad She's Bad

When young and attractive Lina Stroppiani, a thief like the rest of her family, tries to steal the taxi of Paolo, together with two accomplices, she can't possibly know that this will have far reaching consequences.

Nerone

Depictions of the Emperor Nero and the Great Fire of Rome (64). Anachronisms are used for comedy, such as Nero telephoning the fire brigade.

Ettore Fieramosca

ETTORE FIERAMOSCA was based on a widely-read literary action epic by Massimo D'Azeglio, published in 1833. Translated to the screen in 1938 by the most important director of the Italian fascist period, Alessandro Blasetti, it was intended to boost current patriotic fervor and pride in the Italian nation, and it contributed to a revival of Italian nationalism.

Aldebaran

1860

The story is the harried attempt of a Sicilian partisan, as part of the risorgimento, to reach Garibaldi's headquarters in Northern Italy, and to petition the revered revolutionary to rescue part of his besieged land. Along the way, the peasant hero encounters many colorful Italians, differing in class and age, and holding political opinions of every type. There is a key train scene, and the film ends on the battlefield, Italian unification a success, despite brutal losses.

The Anatomy of Love

Nine episodes about life in Italy in the period just before its economic boom.

First Communion

The daughter of Signor Carloni is about to take her first communion. A problem arises when the dressmaker spends too much time working on the girl's communion frock.

Me, Me, Me... and the Others

Sandro is a well-known journalist and he is conducting a survey on human selfishness. Every man and every woman he meets turns into a theme for his inquiry. Even his own wife, Titta.