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The Traffic Policeman
''The Traffic Policeman'' ( it, Il vigile) is a 1960 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Zampa and starring Alberto Sordi in the lead role. A representative of the ''commedia all'italiana'' genre, it tells the story of a traffic policeman and the injustice he endures for daring to enforce the law at the expense of people in power. Plot Otello Celletti is a war veteran from a small town in Latium. He has been unemployed since the end of the war and lives with his father, wife Amalia and their son, at the expense of his brother-in-law. When he is offered a menial job in the town's markets, Otello refuses in disdain. After fiercely insisting with the town's Mayor and by leveraging his veteran status, Otello eventually obtains a position with the local traffic police. Though he performs his duties poorly, Otello still abuses his authority to exact petty revenge upon those who had been teasing him while he was jobless. One day, Otello finds himself offering roadside assistance to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Zampa
Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome. He directed several Italian neorealism films in the 1940s. In 1949 he filmed ''Alarm Bells'' on Ischia, and also shot a separate British version under the title '' Children of Chance''. During the 1950s and 1960s, he became a director of several successful films belonging to the Commedia all'italiana genre, some starring Alberto Sordi. Filmography as director *1933 Risveglio di una città *1941 L'attore scomparso *1942 C'è sempre un ma! *1942 The Adventures of Fra Diavolo (''Fra' Diavolo'') *1942 Signorinette *1945 L'abito nero da sposa *1946 A Yank in Rome (''Un Americano in vacanza'') *1947 To Live in Peace (''Vivere in pace'') *1947 L'onorevole Angelina *1948 Difficult Years (''Anni difficili'') *1949 ''Alarm Bells'' (Campane a martello) *19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on which resided the tribe of the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins or Latians. It was located on the left bank (east and south) of the Tiber, River Tiber, extending northward to the Aniene, River Anio (a left-bank tributary of the Tiber) and southeastward to the Pomptina Palus (Pontine Marshes, now the Pontine Fields) as far south as the Cape Circeo, Circeian promontory. The right bank of the Tiber was occupied by the Etruscan city of Veii, and the other borders were occupied by Ancient Italic people, Italic tribes. Subsequently, Rome defeated Veii and then its Italic neighbours, expanding its dominions over Southern Etruria and to the south, in a partly marshy and partly mountainous region. The latter saw the creation of numerous Roman and Latin co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mara Berni
Mara Berni (born 12 June 1932) is an Italian former stage, television and film actress. Life and career Born in Brunate, Como as Mara Bernasconi, Berni debuted on stage as a child actress with the "Compagnia dei Piccoli" directed by Wanda Petrini. After studying piano and completing her studies, she enrolled the drama workshop held in Milan by actress Teresa Franchini. Berni then made her television debut as a presenter and got her first film role in 1952, playing a dancer in '' La tratta delle bianche''. Her breakout came with '' Amore in città'', in which she played the segment directed by Alberto Lattuada, then she got a personal critical success with the role of Bianca Maria in the Giorgio Bianchi's commedia all'italiana '' Buonanotte... avvocato!''. Soon dissatisfied with cinema, which offered her roles related to her physical attractiveness rather than her acting skills, Berni during the years focused her career on television, in which she starred in a number of succes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poetic Justice
Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, hence the name poetic irony. Etymology English drama critic Thomas Rymer coined the phrase in ''The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd'' (1678) to describe how a work should inspire proper moral behaviour in its audience by illustrating the triumph of good over evil. The demand for poetic justice is consistent in Classical authorities and shows up in Horace, Plutarch, and Quintillian, so Rymer's phrasing is a reflection of a commonplace. Philip Sidney, in '' The Defence of Poesy'' (1595) argued that poetic justice was, in fact, the reason that fiction should be allowed in a civilized nation. History Notably, poetic justice does not merely require that vice be punished and virtue rewarded, but also that logic triumph. If, for example, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odometer
An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Greek , ''hodómetron'', from , ''hodós'' ("path" or "gateway") and , ''métron'' ("measure"). Early forms of the odometer existed in the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as in ancient China. In countries using Imperial units or US customary units it is sometimes called a mileometer or milometer, the former name especially being prevalent in the United Kingdom and among members of the Commonwealth. History Classical Era Possibly the first evidence for the use of an odometer can be found in the works of the ancient Roman Pliny (NH 6. 61-62) and the ancient Greek Strabo (11.8.9). Both authors list the distances of routes traveled by Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BC) as by his bematists Diognetus and Baeton. However, the high ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Emmanuel III Of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and King of the Albanians (1939–1943). During his reign of nearly 46 years, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two world wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism and its regime. During the First World War, Victor Emmanuel III accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Paolo Boselli and named Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (the ''premier of victory'') in his place. Despite being on the winning side of the First World War, Italy did not get all the territories which had been promised to it in the 1915 Treaty of London; the Treaty of Versailles, ending the war, failed to give Italy its demands for Fiume and Dalmatia. This mutilated victory led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1974 Italian Divorce Referendum
An abrogative referendum on the divorce law was held in Italy on 12 May 1974. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1048 Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years earlier allowing divorce for the first time in modern Italian history. Those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as had been the case before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce. The referendum was defeated by margin of 59.26% to 40.74% on a voter turnout of 87.72% out of 37 million eligible voters, thus allowing the divorce laws to remain in force. This vote was the first of its kind in the country, being the first regular legislative referendum held by the Italian Republic 27 years after the Italian constitution, which allowed such referendums, was approved. It was considered a major victory for the civil rights and anti-clericalism movements, and for the It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concubinage
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice in China until the 20th century that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and their experience could vary tremendously according to their masters' whim. During the Mongol conquests, both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol, and in Indian society, where the intermingling of castes and religions was frowned upon and a taboo, and concubinage could be practiced with women with whom marriage was considered undesirable, such as those from a lower caste and Muslim women who wouldn't be accepted in a Hindu household and Hindu women who wouldn't be accepted in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has 3.26 million inhabitants. Its continuously built-up urban area (whose outer suburbs extend well beyond the boundaries of the administrative metropolitan city and even stretch into the nearby country of Switzerland) is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan), is estimated between 8.2 million and 12.5 million making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU.* * * * Milan is considered a leading alpha global city, with strengths in the fields of art, chemicals, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. Conversely, the opposition to monarchical rule is referred to as republicanism. Depending on the country, a royalist may advocate for the rule of the person who sits on the throne, a regent, a pretender, or someone who would otherwise occupy the throne but has been deposed. History Monarchical rule is among the oldest political institutions. The similar form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric. Chiefdoms provided the concept of state formation, which started with civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley civilization. In some parts of the world, chiefdoms became monarchies. Monarchs have generally ceded power in the modern era, having substantially diminished since Wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Musichiere
Il Musichiere was an Italian game show based upon Name That Tune. It ran from 1957 to 1960 and ended with untimely death of its host Mario Riva. It ran for 90 episodes, airing on Saturday evenings during prime-time. It was directed by Antonello Falqui. It had a one-hour format, generally with the same form as the US show of naming tunes to win money but with a weekly guest star who was required to sing. The orchestra was led by Gorni Kramer who sang the theme tune to the programme, "Domenica è sempre domenica" (Sunday is always Sunday). Riva's assistant on the show was Marilù Tolo who later rose to fame in her own right. Regular singers included and Johnny Dorelli.1001 TV Series You Must Watch Before You Die, Paul Conron, Famous guests included: Mina, Lorella De Luca, Totò, Marcello Mastroianni, Fausto Coppi, Dalida, Adriano Celentano and Gino Bartali. International guests included Gary Cooper (in his first televised appearance in Europe), Jayne Mansfield, Perry Como, Jacque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
