Italian Cinema Today

Born Saturnino Manfredi on March 22, 1921, in Frosinone, Nino Manfredi was one of Italy’s most prolific actors from the 1950s to right before his death in 2004. Manfredi graduated with a law degree but famously declared while delivering his thesis, “Ladies and gentlemen, I swear to you, I will never be a lawyer.” Shortly thereafter, he began his acting career in the theater, working on numerous productions with the likes of Eduardo De Filippo and Vittorio Gassman. In 1949, he made his big-screen debut in Mario Sequi’s World War II drama, “Monastero di Santa Chiara.” He spent the 1950s honing his skills, often playing a friend and confidant of the protagonist. Among his most popular supporting roles during that decade are Peppino in Antonio Pietrangeli’s 1956 “Lo scapolo” (The Bachelor) and Raffaele in Camillo Mastrocinque’s 1956 “Totò, Peppino e la … malafemmina” (Totò, Peppino and the Hussy). The following decade brought more substantial roles that revealed his talent for comedy, whic...

Comedic pioneer Franca Valeri was born Alma Franca Maria Norsa in Milan in 1920 to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. Forced to hide her religious identity during World War II, she turned personal sorrow into cinematic triumph in the decades to come. In 1949, she founded Teatro dei Gobbi with fellow actors Luciano Salce and future husband Vittorio Caprioli. The trio invented a comedic performance style that focused on speed and timing. Unsure of how this new formula would be received in Italy, they decided to make their debut in Paris. “Italy is always a little scary to those who want to invent something new. It is always a bit hostile, a bit mocking,” Valeri told Rai Cultura. “Since the guys had already done a little experiment in Paris with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, we decided to debut in Montmartre and had an incredible success.”   When work began to pick up, she adopted the stage name Franca Valeri because her father didn’t approve of a life in show business. She was in...

He may not be a household name, but he was a major force behind the rise of the neorealism movement and Italy’s Golden Age of Cinema. Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini was born in the region of Emilia-Romagna in 1902, earning a law degree before turning his attention to writing. In 1930, he moved to Milan to work at the Rizzoli publishing company. Five years later, he met Vittorio De Sica . They would go on to make 20 films together, including the neorealist classics “Sciuscià” (Shoeshine) (1946), “Ladri di biciclette” (The Bicycle Thief) (1948), “Miracolo a Milano” (Miracle in Milan) (1951) and “Umberto D.” (1952).    Zavattini worked on more than 80 films with many of the great directors of Italian cinema. Among them was Giuseppe De Santis, who collaborated with Zavattini in 1952 on “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. With 200 applicants waiting in line for an inter...