The Leopard (1963)

The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860's Sicily.

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (novel), Suso Cecchi D'Amico (screenplay and adaptation)

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Lancaster	...	Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
Claudia Cardinale	...	Angelica Sedara / Bertiana
Alain Delon	...	Tancredi Falconeri
Paolo Stoppa	...	Don Calogero Sedara
Rina Morelli	...	Princess Maria Stella Salina
Romolo Valli	...	Father Pirrone
Terence Hill	...	Count Cavriaghi (as Mario Girotti)
Pierre Clémenti	...	Francesco Paolo
Lucilla Morlacchi	...	Concetta
Giuliano Gemma	...	Garibaldi's General
Evelyn Stewart	...	Carolina (as Ida Galli)
Ottavia Piccolo	...	Caterina
Carlo Valenzano	...	Paolo
Brook Fuller	...	Little Prince
Anna Maria Bottini	...	Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess

Storyline

In the 1860s, a dying aristocracy struggles to maintain itself against a harsh Sicilian landscape. The film traces with a slow and deliberate rhythm the waning of the noble home of Fabrizio Corbero, Prince of Salina (the Leopard) and the corresponding rise to eminence of the enormously wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara. The prince himself refuses to take active steps to halt the decline of his personal fortunes or to help build a new Sicily but his nephew Tancredi, Prince of Falconeri swims with the tide and assures his own position by marrying Don Calogero's beautiful daughter Angelica. The climatic scene is the sumptuous forty-minute ball, where Tancredi introduces Angelica to society.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | 1860s | sicily | aristocracy | 19th century | 

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Taglines:

Luchino Visconti's Enduring Romantic Adventure

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot over 11 of the hottest weeks of the year. Toward the end of the schedule, Burt Lancaster took time out to pick up his Best Actor's prize for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) at the Venice Film Festival.

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Goofs

During one of the long shots of the journey to Donnafugata, a blur crosses the screen near the center, apparently caused by a fly crawling over the lens.

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Quotes

Prince Don Fabrizio Salina: In your opinion, what should I say?
Father Pirrone: The wish to found a Christian family is agreeable to the Church. Our Lord's presence at the marriage...
Prince Don Fabrizio Salina: Let's keep to the point. I want to talk about this marriage, not the one at Cana, much less about marriage in general.

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Alternate Versions

The longest cut of "The Leopard" runs 205 minutes. This version (which has achieved almost legendary status) is (reputedly) available on video in Italy, and was shown theatrically (at least in Toronto, Canada), in the 1970's. For many years, only the 165-minute, English-dubbed version was available in North America. The 187-minute Criterion DVD release is currently the longest available version, and is, in fact the same version as the Italian DVD release at 180 minutes (the 7-minute time difference is due only to the PAL transfer rate differential).

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Connections

Referenced in Gangs of New York (2002)

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Soundtracks

Controdanza
Composed by Nino Rota

User Reviews

heartbreaking, gorgeous

To summarize, this film was released, dubbed and butchered, in the US in 1963/64, never released on video but occasionally seen in bootleg version. The British Film Institute did a restored print of the original Italian version in 2003. I saw it in a theater in London last summer and found it fabulous, not least for seeing it in the wide screen setting. It's now out on DVD on three disks: the restored print with Italian dialogue (Burt Lancaster dubbed into Italian -- it sounds wacky, but it works big time); a disk with the butchered English release version of forty years ago (valuable to see what they did, and also to hear Lancaster's own English); and a disk with supplementary materials including very interesting interviews with a wide variety of participants in the movie. Of the multi-hour blockbusters of the period, I'd put it behind Lawrence of Arabia, but very close to Doctor Zhivago and well ahead of Ryan's Daughter.

DvB

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian Latin French German

Release Date:

29 March 1963 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Leopard

Filming Locations:

Villa Giustiniani-Odescalchi, Bassano Romano, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

ITL2,900,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$269,763

Company Credits

Production Co:

Titanus, Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma, Société Générale de Cinématographie (S.G.C.)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

186 min 151 min (cut) 161 min (cut) 165 min (cut) 195 min 205 min (premiere) 161 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.21 : 1