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 Mulè	...	Francucci (as Francesco Mulé)
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:

Bombolini was a drunkard, a clown and a fool. This motion picture is about the making of a hero.

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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

The real-life Italian town of Santa Vittoria could not be used for this movie because it had become too modernized since the Second World War period in which the film's story was set. A total of 169 Italian towns were location scouted until the right one was found: Anticoli Corrado. This is a municipality in the Province of Rome in the wider in region of Latium. The commune is situated about 40 km north-east of Rome.

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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

[Young Fabio has been caught making love to Bombolini's daughter, Angela]
Italo Bombolini: I'm going to punish that boy so that he remembers it for the rest of his life.
[In the next scene, Fabio and Angela leave the church, having just been married]

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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

Excellent Performance by Quinn, Kruger & Others

Saw this film when it was first released. Quinn does an excellent job of playing the role of the town drunk/buffoon and then masterfully transitions into the brave and clever Mayor matching wits with the local German Command. Magnani does a great job playing the role of a wife frustrated and embarrassed with being married to a drunk and failure. Movie has very good scenes and is, in my view, very funny.