''Folgore Division'' ( it, Divisione Folgore) is a 1955

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

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.

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 Ettore Manni (6 May 1927 – 27 July 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1979. Life and career Born in Rome, Manni debuted as an actor in 1952, when in spite of his acting inexperience he wa ...

: The Captain *

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 ...

: The Sergeant *

José Jaspe José Jaspe ( gl, Xosé Jaspe Rivas) (10 August 1906 – 5 June 1974) was a Spanish film actor. He played Konev the conductor in ''Horror Express'' (1972), Ahmed in '' House of 1,000 Dolls'' (1967), Henneker in ''The Man Called Noon'' (1973), the ...

: Salvi *

Marco Guglielmi Marco Guglielmi (6 October 1926 – 28 December 2005) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and author. Life and career Born Augusto Guglielmi in Sanremo, he graduated from ragioneria, then he enrolled at the university in the faculty of economic ...

: Lt. Corsini *

Aldo Bufi Landi Aldo Bufi Landi (7 April 1923 – 2 February 2016) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013. Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) * '' Madunnella'' (1948) * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) * ''L ...

: 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 Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...

: Paratrooper *

Fabrizio Mioni Fabrizio Mioni (September 23, 1930 – 8 June 2020) was an Italian actor. He appeared in the films ''Roland the Mighty'', ''Hercules'', ''The Blue Angel'', ''Get Yourself a College Girl'', ''Girl Happy'', '' The Venetian Affair'', ''The Secret Wa ...

: 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