''Before Him All Rome Trembled'' (Italian: ''Avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma'') is a 1946 Italian
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
melodrama film
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
directed by
Carmine Gallone
Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...
and starring
Anna Magnani
Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters.
Born in Rome, she worked her ...
,
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...
and
Hans Hinrich
Hans Hinrich (27 November 1903 – 20 October 1974) was a German film director and actor. He initially worked in Germany but later also worked in Italy where he was usually credited as ''Giovanni Hinrich''.
Hinrich was a noted theatre director ...
. Ada and Marco are a pair of
opera singers
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
, who moonlight working for the
Italian resistance
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...
at the time of the German occupation of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. They are sheltering a British soldier with whom they make contact with the advancing Allied forces. Sylistically the film is a hybrid between filmed performances of opera, and a
neorealistic resistance
melodrama.
[Bayman & Rigoletto p.42]
The title refers to
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
's ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...
'', which is performed during the film.
Cast
*
Anna Magnani
Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters.
Born in Rome, she worked her ...
as Ada
*
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...
as Marco
*
Hans Hinrich
Hans Hinrich (27 November 1903 – 20 October 1974) was a German film director and actor. He initially worked in Germany but later also worked in Italy where he was usually credited as ''Giovanni Hinrich''.
Hinrich was a noted theatre director ...
as German Officer
*
Gino Sinimberghi as Frank, the British soldier
*
Guido Notari
Guido Notari (10 May 1893 - 21 January 1957) was an Italian actor and radio presenter. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1939 to 1956.
Filmography
References
External links
*
1893 births
1957 deaths
Italian male film actors ...
as Doctor
*
Tino Scotti
Tino Scotti (16 November 1905 – 16 October 1984) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1940 and 1984. He was born in Milan, Italy, and died in Tarquinia, Italy.
Partial filmography
* ''Fanfulla da Lodi'' (1940)
* ''L ...
as Mechanic
*
Guglielmo Sinaz
Guglielmo Sinaz (20 November 1885 – 5 February 1947) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1935 and 1947. He was born and died in Rome, Italy.
Selected filmography
* ''I Love You Only'' (1935)
* '' The Grea ...
as Stagehand
*
Joop van Hulzen
Joop is a Dutch masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Johannes, Joseph, Jacobus, or other names. It may refer to:
* Jogchum T. Joop Alberda (born 1952), Dutch volleyball coach, coach of the 1996 Olympic champion Dutch team
* Jo ...
as Webb
*
Giuseppe Varni
Giuseppe Varni (born Józef Bruno Winawer) (1902-1965) was a Polish-born Italian stage and film actor.Anile p.135
Selected filmography
* ''Oltre l'amore'' (1940) - Il commissario
* ''Amami Alfredo'' (1940) - (uncredited)
* ''Eternal Melodies' ...
as Stagehand
*
Carlo Duse
Carlo Duse (5 January 1898 – 9 September 1956) Birth name: Carlo Artemio e Vittorio Duse. With mention in margin of his date and place of death. was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1956. He was bor ...
as Police Officer
*
Edda Albertini as Lena
*
Heinrich Bode as German Soldier
*
Antonio Crast
*
Giulio Neri
Giulio Neri (21 May 1909, Torrita di Siena - 21 April 1958, Rome) was an Italian operatic bass (vocal range), bass, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Neri studied first in Florence with Ferraresi, and completed his studies in Ro ...
*
Ave Ninchi
Ave Maria Ninchi (14 December 1914 – 10 November 1997) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage, television, and in over 98 feature films that included ''Tomorrow Is Too Late'' (1949) and Louis Malle's ''Murmur ...
References
Bibliography
* Bayman, Louis & Rigoletto, Sergio. ''Popular Italian Cinema''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
External links
*
1946 films
1946 musical films
1940s war films
Italian musical films
Italian war films
1940s Italian-language films
Films directed by Carmine Gallone
Italian black-and-white films
Films based on operas
Films about singers
Films set in Rome
Films set in 1944
Italian Campaign of World War II films
Films about Italian resistance movement
Minerva Film films
Melodrama films
Opera films
Films scored by Renzo Rossellini
Italian World War II films
1940s Italian films
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