Variety Lights (1950)
"Luci del varietà" (original title)

A beautiful but ambitious young woman joins a traveling troupe of third-rate vaudevillians and inadvertently causes jealousy and emotional crises.

Directors:

Federico Fellini, Alberto Lattuada

Writers:

Federico Fellini (screenplay), Federico Fellini (story),

Stars:

Peppino De Filippo, Carla Del Poggio, Giulietta Masina

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peppino De Filippo	...	Checco Dal Monte
Carla Del Poggio	...	Liliana 'Lily' Antonelli
Giulietta Masina	...	Melina Amour
John Kitzmiller	...	Trumpet player Johnny
Dante Maggio	...	Remo
Checco Durante	...	Theater Owner
Gina Mascetti	...	Valeria del Sole
Giulio Calì	...	Magician Edison Will
Silvio Bagolini	...	Bruno Antonini
Giacomo Furia	...	Duke
Mario De Angelis	...	Maestro
Vanja Orico	...	Moema - brazilian singer
Enrico Piergentili	...	Melina's Father
Renato Malavasi	...	Hotelkeeper
Joseph Falletta	...	Pistolero Bill (as Joe Falletta)

Storyline

When a young woman of beauty and talent joins a provincial vaudeville troupe, they're suddenly playing to packed houses, and their aging comic Checco Dalmonte gets big ideas. He falls in love with the ingenue, Liliana, and ignores his companion of several years, Melina Amour. (She wants to marry Checco and she's saving to open a deli.) Also, believing he can be an impresario, he hires other actors and begins rehearsal for a revue that will star Liliana and himself. Liliana admires Checco, but she's being squired around town by Adelmo Conti, the assistant to the region's biggest impresario. Can Checco's new troupe hold onto Liliana, and how will Melina fare?

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Plot Keywords:

impresario | traveling | rehearsal | love | vaudeville | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

6 December 1950 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Variety Lights

Filming Locations:

Capranica, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capitolium

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film directed by Federico Fellini.

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Quotes

Checco Dal Monte: [to Lily] I'm an artist. So are you. You've got spunk, spunk! You'll see. You and I together, always! I will be the performer. I don't need anyone. I will form the company. I promise you.

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Connections

Referenced in Alex in Wonderland (1970)

User Reviews

A circus rides through Italy.

I admit it: I struggle more with Fellini than any other "master" of the cinematic cannon. If you recall the annoying guy in the movie line behind Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, I'm afraid to say that I agree with most everything he said about Fellini. Having said that, this, his first work as a (co-) director, is quite delightful. Here, the things that would get the master excited throughout his career- the circus, the city, night and delirium- are ecstatically expounded, but without the brooding insistence on metaphorical significance that would take over from "La Dolce Vita" on. Watching this, I simply felt myself to be on a wild ride, and there were even moments that made Fellini's signature elements feel as mystical as the director would later "command" his audiences to feel them. But here, the mysticism came naturally, and therefore seemed much more legitimately profound and unexpected.