''Bravissimo'' is a 1955 Italian film, starring
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
and directed by
Luigi Filippo D'Amico
Luigi Filippo D'Amico (9 October 1924 – 28 April 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His 1974 film ''Il domestico'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
Sele ...
.
Plot
Ubaldo Impallato is a precarious elementary music teacher, for years in vain in search of a steady job, who to make ends meet with after school. Among the children entrusted to him there is also Gigetto, who unlike the other companions has a singular characteristic: at the age of six he can sing with a wonderful baritone voice. The teacher, who in the meantime has become his tutor in spite of himself since his father ended up in prison, accidentally realizes this extraordinary gift of the little one hearing him interpret The barber of Seville (Ubaldo at first thinks he hears a singer on the radio) and decides to seize the opportunity. Thanks to an excellent performance in a television program for young talents, Gigetto is an immediate success and promises to become a real gold mine. With the help of a theatrical impresario, he is even offered Verdi's Rigoletto, in the role of the hunchbacked buffoon, always in the role of baritone. But at this point the greedy uncles of the child, who previously had refused to take care of him, show up in order to steal him from his guardian and be able to exploit him in his place.
Ubaldo is determined to defend the child prodigy and thwarts their maneuvers, not only for his own gain (with the notoriety acquired he is finally offered the longed-for job as a teacher, but with a letteraccia full of insults he rejects the offer to the sender) but also because she began to grow fond of him. The little one, however, is tired of a life without games and children of his age, he is tired of the greed of adults and fate gives him a hand in putting things right: Gigetto first escapes, then gets sick and has to be operated on at tonsils. However, his tonsils of extraordinary size were the secret of the formidable voice. When later, during the rehearsal of the work, it is discovered that his voice has returned to normal, the impresario is accused of fraud, and no one wants to keep Gigetto anymore, much less his uncles.
Ubaldo, having vanished every dream of glory, decides to accept that last opportunity of the post as a teacher (which he had sent back to the sender by letter) managing to block the fatal letter in time before it reaches its destination. When Gigetto's father, finally released from prison, goes to retrieve the child, Impallato protests wanting to keep the child for the whole school year. But just at that moment, he reveals another extraordinary ability: he knows how to play the piano with incredible skill. But Ubaldo can no longer stand it and invites, indeed, orders his father to take the "monster" back with him before he can really go mad.
Cast
*
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
: Ubaldo Impallato
*Giancarlo Zarfati: Gigetto
*Patrizia Della Rovere: Rosetta
*
Irene Cefaro
Irene Cefaro (born 31 August 1935) is an Italian former stage and film actress.
Life and career
Born in Rome, in 1952 Cefaro won the beauty contest "Miss Roma" and almost immediately attracted the interest of film producers, making her film de ...
: Egle
*
Irène Tunc: Dominique
*
Mario Riva
Mario Riva (26 January 1913 – 1 September 1960) was an Italian television presenter and actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1941 and 1960.
Life and career
Born in Rome as Mariuccio Bonavolontà, the son of a composer, Giuseppe (Joseph) ...
: maestro di ballo
*
Diana Dei: sua moglie
*
Gianrico Tedeschi
Gianrico Tedeschi (20 April 1920 – 27 July 2020) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Life and career
Born in Milan in April 1920, Tedeschi got a degree in pedagogy before enrolling at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art, wh ...
: impresario
*
Amalia Pellegrini: la madre del maestro di musica
*
Liana Del Balzo
Liana Del Balzo (4 March 1899 – 26 March 1982) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 90 films between 1935 and 1979. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and died in Rome, Italy. Even making her film debut quite late, in her fort ...
: la zia
*Riccarda Momo: Christine
*Rolf Tasna: suo padre
*
Turi Pandolfini
Turi Pandolfini (1 November 1883 – 6 March 1962) was an Italian stage and film character actor. He appeared in 46 films between 1917 and 1961.
Life and career
Born in Catania, Sicily as Salvatore Pandolfini, the nephew of the actor Ange ...
: Pandolfino
*
Zoe Incrocci
Zoe Incrocci (21 September 1917 – 6 November 2003) was an Italian actress and voice actress.
Biography
Born in Brescia, Incrocci was the older sister of the screenwriter Agenore Incrocci. She made her film debut at young age in a supporting ...
: Margherita
*
Marcella Rovena
Marcella Rovena (22 January 1905 – 6 October 1991) was an Italian film and voice actress. Born in Conegliano
Conegliano (; Venetian: ''Conejan'') is a town and ''comune'' of the Veneto region, Italy, in the province of Treviso, about no ...
: la madre di Egle
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0047896
1955 films
Italian musical drama films
1950s Italian-language films
Italian black-and-white films
1950s musical drama films
Films directed by Luigi Filippo D'Amico
Films with screenplays by Age & Scarpelli
Films set in Rome
Films shot in Rome
1955 drama films
1950s Italian films