''Folgore Division'' ( it, Divisione Folgore) is a 1955 Italian war film directed by

Duilio Coletti Duilio Coletti (28 December 1906 – 22 May 1999) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 29 films between 1934 and 1977. Career Born in Penne, Abruzzo, he took a degree in medicine and surgery and practiced the profession ...

. It is based on actual events and depicts the

185th Airborne Division Folgore 185th may refer to: *185th (2/1st West Riding) Brigade, formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army *185th Air Refueling Squadron flies the KC-135 Stratotanker *185th Air Refueling Wing (ARW), unit located at Sioux Gateway Airport, Iowa ...

during the battle of El-Alamein. The screenwriter and military advisor was

Marcantonio Bragadin Marco Antonio Bragadin, also Marcantonio Bragadin (21 April 1523 – 17 August 1571), was a Venetian lawyer and military officer of the Republic of Venice. Bragadin joined the ''Fanti da Mar'' Corps or marines of the Republic of Venice. In 1569, ...

Plot

In the summer of 1942, during the Second World War, a group of young paratroopers from the Folgore Division, after having undergone a long and tiring training in Italy, was transported by air to the Libyan desert to cover the Italian-German front. The young soldiers believe that their destination is the island of Malta (operation C3) or the area of Alexandria: instead they find themselves thrown into a desert region where they are forced to live in holes dug in the sand and to face with insufficient means the armored British armored units. They will sadly see their parachutes piled up inside a warehouse in the desert. Thus develops that epic fight, which takes the name of the battle of El-Alamein, in which a handful of heroic fighters try with every effort to stop or at least delay the advance of General Montgomery's British tanks. Once their line-up has broken through, the survivors resist for several days an unequal struggle against the preponderant English forces, even being mentioned, for their heroism, by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who called them "The lions of the Thunderbolt".

Cast

* Ettore Manni: The Captain * Fausto Tozzi: The Sergeant * José Jaspe: Salvi * Marco Guglielmi: Lt. Corsini * Aldo Bufi Landi: Friar Gabriele *

Monica Clay Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

: Captain's Wife *

Lea Padovani Lea Padovani (28 July 1920 – 23 June 1991) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1945 and 1990. She starred in the film '' Black Dossier'' which was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Partial filmography ...

: Salvi's Wife * Mario Girotti: Paratrooper * Fabrizio Mioni: Gianluigi Corsini *

Fernando Cicero Fernando Cicero, better known as Nando Cicero (22 January 1931 – 30 July 1995), was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor. Born in Asmara, Cicero debuted as an actor, working with directors such as Luchino Visconti ('' Senso'', 1953 ...

Carlo Tamberlani Carlo Tamberlani (11 March 1899 – 5 August 1980) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1931 and 1976. He was born in Salice Salentino, Italy and died in Subiaco, Italy. His brother Nando Tamberlani was also an actor. ...

References

External links

* 1955 films 1955 war films Italian war drama films Films directed by Duilio Coletti Films scored by Nino Rota North African campaign films Italian World War II films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films {{war-drama-film-stub