"Roma 11:00" – The Tragic True Story of Desperation in a World of Poverty

There couldn’t have been a more perfect couple than Lucia Bosè and Raf Vallone in Giuseppe De Santis’ 1952 “Roma 11:00.”

A tragic story based on true events, the film follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a job listing for a typist. When 200 women are in line on one staircase over several floors, a crack leads to the collapse of the entire staircase. Dozens were injured and one was killed. The tragedy spoke to the poverty and desperation that existed for so many Italians in the early 1950s before the ‘58 industrial boom began.

Cesare Zavattini was one of the screenwriters. Elio Petri was the assistant director who interviewed many of the victims and cast a few in supporting roles. In addition to Bosè and Vallone, the film stars Carla Del Poggio, Massimo Girotti, Maria Grazia Francia, Lea Padovani and Delia Scala.

The film is set in Largo Circense 37, while in reality the collapse took place in via Savoia 31, in the Salario district, on January 15, 1951. The square with the palace was entirely rebuilt in the studio by the famous French scenographer Léon Barsacq.

Watch this :14 second clip I edited for Instagram.

Lucia Bosè passed away in March at the age of 89 due to complications related to Covid-19. Her work in the early ‘50s before she got married and moved to Spain is exceptional. She had extraordinary beauty and such a unique way about her.

Click below to watch “Roma 11:00.” It's available on YouTube. Unfortunately, there are not subtitles.

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