''Il Vedovo'' (The Widower) is a

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Italian

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 o ...

directed by

Dino Risi Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of '' commedia all'italiana''. Biography Risi was born in Milan. He had an ...

Plot

Alberto Nardi (

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 ...

) is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

businessman who fancies himself a man of great capabilities, but whose factory (producing lifts and elevators) teeters perennially on the brink of catastrophe.
Alberto is married to a rich and successful businesswoman from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, Elvira Almiraghi ( Franca Valeri) who has a no-nonsense attitude and barely tolerates the attempts of her husband to keep his factory afloat with her money.
Alberto tries to "keep up" with his wife and her rich and successful friends but he only manages to ridicule himself. Amused by his antics Elvira publicly treats her husband as a silly clown, confident that he'll never leave her in the hope of profiting from her fortune.
One day a train on which Elvira was supposed to be traveling (to pay visit to her old mother) suffers a horrible accident falling off a bridge and no survivors are reported.
Alberto is overjoyed and in a veritable ecstatic rush plans to liquidate most of Elvira's assets, brings his mistress in her country villa and starts dreaming of a bright future only to be frustrated when Elvira appears alive and well: a last-minute phone call from his own accountant and handyman (

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...

Stucchi) prevented her from boarding the doomed train.
Frustration and anger throw Alberto in a nervous breakdown from which he emerges with a diabolic plan: to sabotage the elevator in the city

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

he shares with Elvira to have her killed and inherit her fortune for good.
The German engineer working in his factory agrees with Nardi's plan and with the help of unlikely accomplices like Marquis Stucchi and his own uncle (who acts as Alberto's

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specia ...

) the murderous project is set in motion, with an unintended and tragicomical result. The movie is a splendid example of the

commedia all'italiana Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Ma ...

which Risi directs on an unusually

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

register where Sordi depicts an outrageously sleazy character (arrogant to his subjects, megalomaniac, a bigoted unrepentant

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

who yet longs for recognition from the businessmen who envies). It is also a period piece, showing the contradictions and miseries lying behind Italy's postwar

economic miracle Economic miracle is an informal economic term for a period of dramatic economic development that is entirely unexpected or unexpectedly strong. Economic miracles have occurred in the recent histories of a number of countries, often those undergoing ...

Cast

: Alberto Nardi * Franca Valeri: Elvira Almiraghi *

Livio Lorenzon Livio Lorenzon (6 May 1923 – 23 December 1971) was an Italian actor who was mainly active during the 1950s and 1960s. Biography He played minor roles in some memorable commedia all'Italiana movies directed by the likes of Dino Risi and Ma ...

: Marquis Stucchi * Leonora Ruffo: Gioia *

Nando Bruno Nando Bruno (6 October 1895 – 10 April 1963) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1938 and 1961. He was born in Rome, Italy and he died there. Selected filmography * ''A Lady Did It'' (1938) - Un collego di Pasquale ...

: Nardi's Uncle *

Nanda Primavera Nanda Primavera (23 August 1898 – 9 August 1995) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1936 to 1988. Filmography References External links * 1898 births 1995 deaths Italian film actresses {{Ita ...

: Italia, Gioia's Mother * Mario Passante: Lambertoni *

Enzo Petito Enzo Petito (24 July 1897 – 17 July 1967) was an Italian film and stage character actor. A theatre actor under Eduardo De Filippo in the 1950s in the Teatro San Ferdinando of Naples, with whom he was professionally closely associated, Petito a ...

: Fritzmayer * Ruggero Marchi: Fenoglio * Gigi Reder: Girondi * Enzo Furlai: Giordano * Angela Luce: Margherita *

Ignazio Leone Ignazio Leone (19 April 1923 – 30 December 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 105 films between 1952 and 1976. Selected filmography * '' The Walk'' (1953) * '' I Chose Love'' (1953) * '' Amici per la pelle'' (1955) * '' A Wo ...

: Doorman *

Alberto Rabagliati Alberto Rabagliati (27 June 1906 in Milan – 8 March 1974 in Rome) was an Italian singer. Early career Alberto Rabagliati was born in Milan in 1906 and was the son of piedmontese spouses: his father Leandro Valentino Rabagliati and his moth ...

: Himself * Rosita Pisano: Nardi's Secretary

Censorship

When Il Vedovo was first released in Italy in 1959, it was subject to review by the Committee for Theatrical Review of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. Before being screened publicly, the Committee recommended the removal of the following: 1) Father Agostino, who took part in the funeral as a priest, is shown sipping a glass of wine; 2) Elvira’s line “She is a fool, an

Anita Garibaldi Anita Garibaldi (, ; 30 August 1821 – 4 August 1849), born Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro, was a Brazilian republican revolutionary. She was the wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Their partnership epitomized ...

type of fool… but instead of a hero she found my husband.” The reason for the restriction, cited in the official documents, is because the aforementioned scene was considered immoral and the line running against national reputation and decency. The official document number is N° 3036; it was signed on 17 Nov 1959 by Minister Domenico Magrì.

Remake

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...

entitled '' Wannabe Widowed'', starring Luciana Littizzetto and

Fabio De Luigi Fabio De Luigi (born 11 October 1967) is an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian, film director, television presenter, and former basketball player. Biography Great-grandson of Tonino Guerra; has a son, Dino, born in 2007, and a daughter, Lola ...

, was released in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vedovo, Il 1959 films 1959 comedy films Films set in Italy Films set in Milan 1950s Italian-language films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Dino Risi Films scored by Armando Trovajoli Commedia all'italiana 1950s Italian films