''Castles in the Air'' (Italian: ''Castelli in aria'') is a 1939 Italian "
white-telephones"
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Augusto Genina and starring
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
,
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...
and
Otto Treßler
Otto Treßler, also Otto Tressler, (13 April 1871 – 27 April 1965) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1915 and 1962. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany and died in Vienna, Austria. He was ...
.
[Moliterno p.80] It was made at
Cinecittà
Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...
in
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 ...
, as part of a
co-production with Germany. A separate German-language version was also released. It is based on a novel by .
Synopsis
A
wardrobe mistress at a
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
theatre wins a competition, receiving as her prize a luxury tour round Italy. On the train she meets an impoverished young Italian who pretends to be a
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
.
Partial cast
*
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
as Annie Wagner detta 'Mimì'
*
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...
as Riccardo Pietramola
*
Otto Treßler
Otto Treßler, also Otto Tressler, (13 April 1871 – 27 April 1965) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1915 and 1962. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany and died in Vienna, Austria. He was ...
as Forster
*
Hilde von Stolz
Hilde von Stolz (8 July 1903 in Segesvár, Nagy-Küküllő County, Austria-Hungary, now Romania – 16 December 1973 in Berlin) was an Austrian-German actress.
Von Stolz attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and made her debut at the local ...
as La cantante
*
Fritz Odemar
Fritz Odemar (13 January 1890 – 6 June 1955) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1927 and 1955. He was born in Hannover, Germany and died in Munich, Germany. Odemar's father was the actor Fritz Odemar Sr. (K ...
as Walter
*
Carla Sveva
Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include:
* Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United
* Carla Ab ...
as La guardarobiera
*
Umberto Sacripante
Umberto Sacripante (2 October 1904 – 14 January 1975) was an Italian film and stage actor.
Life and career
Born Umberto Sacripanti in Rome, Sacripante debuted on stage in 1921, and in 1926 he became first actor in the theatrical company Teat ...
as Il gondoliere
References
Bibliography
* Moliterno, Gino. ''The A to Z of Italian Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.
External links
*
1939 films
Italian comedy films
Italian black-and-white films
1939 comedy films
1930s Italian-language films
Films directed by Augusto Genina
Films set in Vienna
Films set in Italy
Films based on Austrian novels
Italian multilingual films
Films shot at Cinecittà Studios
UFA GmbH films
1939 multilingual films
Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini
1930s Italian films
{{1930s-Italy-comedy-film-stub