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), William Rose (screenplay by)

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi

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

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Quinn	...	Bombolini
Anna Magnani	...	Rosa
Virna Lisi	...	Caterina
Hardy Krüger	...	Capt. von Prum (as Hardy Kruger)
Sergio Franchi	...	Tufa
Renato Rascel	...	Babbaluche
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Fabio
Patrizia Valturri	...	Angela
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Luigi
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Vittorini
Gigi Ballista	...	Padre 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 | city hall | 

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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:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$6,300,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,500,000, 31 December 1969

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

During the fight scene, when Anna Magnani literally kicks Anthony Quinn out of the house, she kicked him so hard she broke her foot. Producer-director Stanley Kramer said of this in his autobiography "A Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World: A Life in Hollywood": "He and Magnani didn't get along at all. It's a wonder their scenes ever got finished. She didn't like him one bit, and in their big fight scene, when she was supposed to literally kick him out of the house, she did it so hard during the shooting that she broke her foot!". Kramer added: "She was a perfect lady. She greeted me in a formal gown, used a cigarette holder and spoke perfect English. She told me all about the studio there, where we would be doing some important interior sequences, and she described the business and artistic aspects of movie-making in Rome with a great deal of insight and intelligence and class. I thought wow, what a lady she is! And then she gave me a warning: 'Don't eat at the commissary here-the food is shit.' It was then I knew she had another side to her".

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Goofs

When Tufa the deserter, meets Caterina after being released by the Germans, Caterina places the bread knife parallel to the side of the cutting board. Next shot, the knife is away from the cutting board with the blade pointing away from the cutting board.

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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

"There is No Wine" Says the Town Drunkard/Mayor; Wonderful Underrated Film

The book that this movie is based was one of the biggest best-sellers of the 1960's by the author of "The Great Imposter" (also adapted into a movie starring Tony Curtis). The book was hailed by one critic as giving a sense hope in a crazy world. And that's what this story is about, a kind of modern David and Golliath. Or maybe the town-drunkard-turned-mayor versus Nazi Germany.

The village of Santa Vittoria is no Rome. It's just a small town in Italy where the townspeople live very simple lives. They would be almost destitute except for one small commodity they all share: the town makes and exports wonderful wine to all parts of the world. They may not make as much as Mondavi, but it's a good living. Now, it's War World II, and the Germans have infiltrated the town. Not because they love the small-town folk of Santa Vittoria and want to protect them. They want their world-famous wine to help finance the war. But of course, the townspeople are dependent upon the wine for their livelihoods. So Anthony Quinn, perfectly cast as the town drunkard who ends up mayor, comes up with a plan. They give the Germans some of the wine and insist that they have given all the town possesses.

Hardy Kruger as the German officer in charge of the operation is unconvinced. They seemed too happy and too willing to give up their wine. He knows the townspeople are hiding more wine, and he will use all means at his disposal to retrieve every last bottle. The cat and mouse game is on! Can a bunch of simple-folk led by their clownish mayor in rural Italy outwit the likes of the German army? I vastly underrated movie that is mostly hilarious from beginning until end. There are a couple of references to torture but mostly it is quite a fun plot. Will Anthony Quinn and the town through sheer determination wear down the stubbornness of Hardy Kruger and the Germans, who seem absolutely relentless in their conviction that more wine exists? And now out on DVD!

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