The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) 7.1
During WWII in Italy, a wine producing village hide a million bottles from the Germans Director:Stanley Kramer |
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The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) 7.1
During WWII in Italy, a wine producing village hide a million bottles from the Germans Director:Stanley Kramer |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Anthony Quinn | ... |
Italo Bombolini
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| Anna Magnani | ... |
Rosa
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| Virna Lisi | ... |
Caterina Malatesta
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| Hardy Krüger | ... |
Capt. von Prum
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Sergio Franchi | ... |
Tufa
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Renato Rascel | ... |
Babbaluche
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| Giancarlo Giannini | ... |
Fabio
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Patrizia Valturri | ... |
Angela
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Eduardo Ciannelli | ... |
Luigi
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Leopoldo Trieste | ... |
Vittorini
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Gigi Ballista | ... |
Pade Polenta
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Quinto Parmeggiani | ... |
Copa
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Carlo Caprioli | ... |
Giovanni Pietrosanto
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Francesco Mulé | ... |
Francucci
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Wolfgang Jansen | ... |
Sgt. Zopf
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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. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
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)