The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

During WWII in Italy, a wine producing village hide a million bottles from the Germans

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Robert Crichton (novel), Ben Maddow,

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Quinn	...	Italo Bombolini
Anna Magnani	...	Rosa
Virna Lisi	...	Caterina Malatesta
Hardy Krüger	...	Capt. von Prum
Sergio Franchi	...	Tufa
Renato Rascel	...	Babbaluche
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Fabio
Patrizia Valturri	...	Angela
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Luigi
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Vittorini
Gigi Ballista	...	Pade Polenta
Quinto Parmeggiani	...	Copa
Carlo Caprioli	...	Giovanni Pietrosanto
Francesco Mulé	...	Francucci
Wolfgang Jansen	...	Sgt. Zopf

Storyline

Bombolini is a fairly worthless drunk in the small Italian town of Santa Vittoria in the closing days of World War II. When word comes that the Fascist government has surrendered, he climbs a water tower to tear down the flag. He can't get down and someone gets the crowd to chant his name to give him confidence. The Fascist town council hears this and believes that he is the town's new leader. They surrender to him and make him the new mayor. He rises to the occasion and when he finds that the Germans plan to occupy his town and take their wine (over a million bottles) he works out a plan to hide it.

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Plot Keywords:

wine | bottle | mayor | italy | water tower | 

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Taglines:

In the beginning there was Bombolini the fool, Bombolini the drunk, Bombolini the joke. In the end there was Bombolini the mayor, Bombolini the hero, Bombolini the beautiful. In between is the secret of Santa Vittoria.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 1970 (Finland)

Also Known As:

El secreto de Santa Vittoria

Filming Locations:

Anticoli Corrado, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Set constructions for this movie by the film's art department in the Italian township of Anticoli Corrado included just a few constructions. Producer-director Stanley Kramer said of this in his autobiography "A Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World: A Life in Hollywood": "Architecturally, the contours and dimensions of the square and the adjoining streets, made me settle on this town. The art department added a bell tower, one single facade, and a water tower for one particularly funny (and it turned out, dangerous) scene".

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Quotes

[the Fascist members of the Santa Vittoria town council are being held prisoner in the church bell tower. The priest brings them a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine]
Francucci: It's criminal! You keep us locked up! We don't get enough food! You tell us nothing! There's not even a toilet!
Priest: Next time, vote Communist!

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Soundtracks

"The Song of Santa Vittoria (Stay)"
Music by Ernest Gold
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Sung by Sergio Franchi

User Reviews

Town idiot becomes mayor, Germans invade ... wine at risk

In short there is no other move quite like it. One of those that you might not think to rent, but if you find yourself at the beginning of it, you'll not leave until you see the ending. Quinn is excellent.

The nutshell is that The Germans are coming, and the town has lost all of its older boys and men to the Italian army. They're a wine-producing town, and elect the town-fool to be the "mock mayor". The problem is that they need to hide the wine from the Germans, being their only real treasure. From that premise forward, the movie becomes dark and deeply compelling. I believe that these are some of the best performances of the star-studded actors...

I recommend it, as one of life's "must see's".

(PS: I'm a tough critic, so an "8" for me is just about tops)