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 Cinecittà: La casa di F. Fellini (2004)

User Reviews

Nice. Not great, but nice.

If you enjoy Fellini's earlier films, Nights of Cabiria and La Strada, specifically, Variety Lights will please you. A sweet-hearted film not much in the vain of Italian Neorealism (Nights of Cabiria and La Strada were more like the neorealistic classics), but more like the poetic realism of 1930s French cinema, Variety lights is straightforward, unlike Fellini's later films, for instance, La Dolce Vita, and very enjoyable. It never impresses as deeply as most of Fellini's masterpiece, but, hey, it was his earliest directorial effort. You also have to see it, Fellini lovers, for Giulietta Masina's supporting role; it gives you a hint of her later masterful roles. 8/10