Give Us This Day (1949)

One of the few (if any at the time this film was made) films shot in England with New York City's 'Little Italy" as the locale. This was Edward Dmytryk's first film after he had refused to ... See full summary »

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Pietro Di Donato (novel), Ben Barzman (adaptation),

Stars:

Sam Wanamaker, Lea Padovani, Kathleen Ryan

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Sam Wanamaker	...	Geremio
Lea Padovani	...	Annuziata
Kathleen Ryan	...	Kathleen
Charles Goldner	...	Luigi
Bonar Colleano	...	Julio
William Sylvester	...	Giovanni (as Bill Sylvester)
George Pastell	...	The lucy (as Nino Pastellides)
Philo Hauser	...	Head of Pig
Sid James	...	Murdin
Karel Stepanek	...	Jaroslav
Ina De La Haye	...	Dame Katarina
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Julio's wife
Ronan O'Casey	...	Bastian
Robert Rietty	...	Pietro
Charles Moffat	...	Pasquale

Storyline

One of the few (if any at the time this film was made) films shot in England with New York City's 'Little Italy" as the locale. This was Edward Dmytryk's first film after he had refused to tell a Congressional Committee whether or not he was, or had ever been, a member of the Communist Party. This is a 'runaway production' shot in England for political reasons and not for the usual USA tax-break reasons. Geremio, a young Italian immigrant to New York City, works as a bricklayer and is courting an Italian girl, Annunziata, by mail. He lies to her that he owns his own home and, after they are married, has to rent one for their three-day honeymoon. The years pass and they are unable to save enough money to get out of their slum tenement, and the 1929 depression brings even harder times to the family that now includes three children. Geremio, in order to make enough money to care for his family, exploits his "comrades" in dangerous construction work. This practice leads to the accidental ...

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Plot Keywords:

italian | new york city | bricklayer | tenement | little italy | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 1950 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Salt to the Devil

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Plantagenet

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Award: Prix du Festival de Karlovy Vary.

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Connections

Referenced in A Light in the Window Lost (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Without Love, You're Nothing"
Written by L. David Norman

User Reviews

A stunning film, too rarely seen.

I saw this film many years ago on television and was quite stunned by it. This very simple drama of the life of an ordinary working man is turned into high tragedy through the wonderful talents of the filmmaker. The film is all the more impressive when one considers that it was made on the cheap in London, though set in New York. The low budget gives rise to one or two false notes, but the story is so well told that you easily forget about those. Perhaps the lack of budget was a blessing, in that it allowed the actors and director to concentrate on the more ineffable qualities of story-telling. I would love to see this film again. It should be revived so that many more people can appreciate the great talent of Edward Dmytrk and the social-realist style, of which it is a wonderful example.