''Beatrice Cenci'' is a 1956 French-Italian historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...

and starring

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...

Gino Cervi Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules ...

and

Fausto Tozzi Fausto Tozzi (29 October 1921 – 10 December 1978) was an Italian film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 70 films between 1951 and 1978. He wrote the script for ''The Defeated Victor'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin Internation ...

. It is a biopic of

Beatrice Cenci Beatrice Cenci (; 6 February 157711 September 1599) was a Roman noblewoman who murdered her father, Count Francesco Cenci. She was beheaded in 1599 after a lurid murder trial in Rome that gave rise to an enduring legend about her. Life Beatri ...

, a young Roman noblewoman who murdered her abusive father, Count

Francesco Cenci Beatrice Cenci (; 6 February 157711 September 1599) was a Roman noblewoman who murdered her father, Count Francesco Cenci. She was beheaded in 1599 after a lurid murder trial in Rome that gave rise to an enduring legend about her. Life Beatri ...

Plot

In 1598, his son Giacomo, lover of his stepmother Lucrezia, was involved in the investigation into the death of Francesco Cenci, a violent and dissolute patrician. To defend him, Lucrezia accuses Olimpio Calvetti, Francesco's steward, who had helped Beatrice Cenci. Under torture, Beatrice also accuses Olimpio, but she is sentenced to death and beheaded in Castel Sant'Angelo. In the end, the judge also has Giacomo and Lucrezia locked up.

Cast

Release

''Beatrice Cenci'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by Cei-Incom on 6 September 1956. It grossed a total of 223,400,000

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

domestically.

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1956 films 1950s historical drama films 1950s Italian-language films French historical drama films Italian historical drama films Films directed by Riccardo Freda Films set in the 16th century Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Cultural depictions of Beatrice Cenci 1956 drama films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub