''Golden Madonna'' (Italian: ''La madonnina d'oro'') is a 1949 British-Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Luigi Carpentieri and

Ladislao Vajda Ladislao Vajda (born Weisz László; 18 August 1906, Budapest – 25 March 1965, Barcelona) was a Hungarian-Spanish film director who made films in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and West Germany. Biography He was born in Budapest, ...

and starring

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...

Tullio Carminati Tullio Carminati (September 21, 1894 – February 26, 1971) was an Italian actor. He rose to fame in Italy and the United States initially as a silent film actor, starring in such films as '' The Duchess of Buffalo'' (1926), '' The Bat'' (1 ...

and

Michael Rennie Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie; 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the s ...

. It was considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

and was on the

BFI 75 Most Wanted The BFI 75 Most Wanted is a list compiled in 2010 by the British Film Institute of the most sought-after British feature films not held in the BFI National Archive, and classified as "missing, believed lost". The films chosen range from quota qu ...

list, until a copy was loaned to the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

by Cohen Media. Filmed on location, a group of original negatives and contact prints taken by Francis Goodman are in the possession of London's National Portrait Gallery. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Guido Fiorini Guido Fiorini (1897–1966) was an Italian engineer, architect and art director.Poretti p.128 He was associated with the futurist movement. Selected filmography * ''Loyalty of Love'' (1934) * ''Just Married'' (1934) * ''Red Passport'' (1935) * '' ...

Plot

Patricia, a young British woman inherits an estate in rural Italy, and gives up her job as a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

. Soon after she arrives she offends the village where she now plans to live by accidentally throwing away a sacred painting of the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

which they consider to be lucky and a protector of the community. To redeem herself she goes out in search of the painting with the assistance of a British ex-army Captain, hoping to return in to the village. A romance begins between her and the Captain, but a gang of street urchins steal his money. The Captain has painted over the Madonna with his own painting of

The Laughing Cavalier The ''Laughing Cavalier'' (1624) is a portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals in the Wallace Collection in London, which has been described as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits". The title is an invention of the Vict ...

before it disappeared. In

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

she is first cheated by Johnny Lester, a British Spiv, and his tiny Italian gangster sidekick , but later receives his help to steal back the painting from a wealthy collector, Julian Migone, who has taken the Madonna to his cliff-top

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

. Patricia, pretending to be a rich countess, travels alone to Capri by boat but the moneyless Captain is given a ticket by one of the young Naples street urchins. She plays along with Migone's attempt to seduce her in order to get the painting back. She and the Captain are stopped by police when trying to return on the boat, and their luggage is searched, but the painting has disappeared. It has been stolen by Johnny who successfully gets it back to the mainland. Patricia returns the painting to the church where it is received with much ceremony.

Cast

as Patricia Chandler *

as Signor Migone *

as Mike Christie, the Captain * David Greene as Johnny Lester *

Aldo Silvani Aldo Silvani (21 January 1891 – 12 November 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1934 and 1964. He was born in Turin, Italy and died in Milan, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Cardinal Lambertini'' ...

as Don Vincenzo * Pippo Bonucci as Pippo * Francesca Biondi as Maria *

Franco Coop Franco Coop (27 September 1891 – 27 March 1962), was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1931 and 1960. He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Before the Jury'' (1931) * '' Moth ...

as Esposito * Claudio Ermelli as Antonio

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes *
''The Golden Madonna''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...

Review of film
at ''Variety''
Italian version
1949 films British black-and-white films 1949 drama films 1940s English-language films English-language Italian films Films directed by Ladislao Vajda Films set in Naples Films shot in Naples 1940s rediscovered films British drama films Warner Bros. films Films set in Capri, Campania Italian black-and-white films Italian drama films Rediscovered British films Rediscovered Italian films British multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1940s multilingual films 1940s British films 1940s Italian films {{1940s-UK-film-stub