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The Walls of Malapaga (1949)

Le mura di Malapaga (original title)
| Drama, Romance | 26 March 1950 (USA)
The Walls of Malapaga Poster
A French fugitive arrives in Genoa, where he becomes entangled with an Italian woman and her daughter.

Director:

Writers:

(adaptation), (adaptation) | 3 more credits »

Stars:

, , | See full cast & crew »
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4 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview:
... Pierre Arrignon
... Marta Manfredini
Vera Talchi ... Cecchina, la fille de Marta / Cecchina, figlia di Marta
... Giuseppe, le mari de Marta / Giuseppe, marito di Marta
... Le marin / Il marinaio
Ave Ninchi ... Maria, la voisine / Maria, la vicina
Checco Rissone ... Le faux-monnayeur / il contraffattore
Renato Malavasi ... Le dentiste / Il dentista
Carlo Tamberlani ... Le commissaire / Il commissario
... L'agent / l'agente
See full cast »
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Storyline

A French fugitive arrives in Genoa, where he becomes entangled with an Italian woman and her daughter.

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

italy | waitress | stowaway | starting over | ship | See All (13) »

Genres:

Drama | Romance

Certificate:

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Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

|

Language:

|

Release Date:

26 March 1950 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The Walls of Malapaga  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

,  »
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Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

(Optiphone)

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa #5706 delivered on 19 September 1949. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Siamo donne (1953) See more »

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User Reviews

 
The Movie, Like Its Characters, Deserves a Better Fate
27 March 2018 | by – See all my reviews

The copy of this movie that I watched on TCM was a poor one. It looked like a bad 16 mm. print; the subtitles were hard to read because they were fuzzy and the portion of the frame might have a white or black background. Given that this won the Best Foreign Picture Oscar, it seems strange that Criterion, the print's source, would be satisfied with a bad print.

The story of this French-Italian co-production is a simple one: Gabin is a fugitive from France, where he has murdered a woman. He gets off ship in Genoa because he has a toothache and has his wallet stolen, meets Isa Miranda and her daughter, Vera Talchi, and they all fall in love. Miss Talchi is a fugitive herself, from Marseilles. Her wife-beating husband has just gotten out of jail and wants his punching bag back.

In broad, this movie could have turned out like one of the movies Gabin had made with Duvivier back in the 1930s, full of Poetic Realism. Now, however, the Second World War has destroyed the world,and there is no poetry left, just bombed-out buildings for people to live in, and dentists who pull your teeth for 450 lire -- 800 if you want anesthesia. Director Rene Clement and DP Louis Page give us a tired, ugly world where people are hungry for a little kindness, simply because it has grown so rare. It's a great movie and I hope someone locates and makes available a good copy before it is forgotten.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
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