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''In Olden Days'' () is a 1952 Italian
comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...
directed by
Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Four Steps in the Clouds''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during the ...
and featuring an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...
that included
Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023) was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, and sculptor. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international ...
,
Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 – 5 November 1979) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as ...
,
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. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...
,
Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * '' Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * '' The Counte ...
, Barbara Florian,
Aldo Fabrizi Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's ''Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò in ...
,
Andrea Checchi Andrea Checchi (21 October 1916 – 29 March 1974) was a prolific Italian film actor. Biography Born in Florence, Checchi appeared in over 150 films in his lengthy career, which spanned from 1934 to his death in 1974. The son of a painter, he s ...
and
Alba Arnova Alba Arnova (15 March 1930 – 11 March 2018) was an Italian-Argentine ballerina and actress. Life and career Born in Buenos Aires as Alba Fossati, daughter of two Italian emigrants, Arnova studied piano at the Conservatory and enrolled in th ...
.Diffrient p.7 It was shot at the
Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City) 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 were constru ...
in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. The film's sets were designed by the
art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
s Dario Cecchi and
Veniero Colasanti Veniero Colasanti (21 July 1910 – 3 June 1996) was an Italian costume designer, set decorator and art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''El Cid''. During the 1960s and 1970s, he a ...
. It is also known as ''Times Gone By'' and ''Infidelity''.


Plot


The cart of old books

A good-natured peddler of old books shows his customers some works from the past and is pranked by the rowdy son of a newsagent.


Excelsior dance

Filmed reconstruction of the Excelsior Ball, an allegorical late-century dance by the composer Romualdo Marenco performed for the first time at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 January 1881.


Less than a day

Two lovers, for contingent reasons, manage to see each other in a hotel room once a year, for a few hours, but due to some quarrels and jealousies they are unable to consume their relationship.


The Sardinian drummer

During the first war of independence fought against the Austrians, a very young drummer, delivering an important message to the Italian command, is hit and loses a leg (episode from the book "Cuore").


Matter of interest

Two peasants scramble for possession of manure dung.


The idyll

Tender summer idyll between two children from upper-class families. Guido, because of a kiss given to the sweet Greek girl Filli, wonders if the kiss could have generated a child and also fears for his maid, who had a baby without being married. With the end of the summer comes the painful separation.


The vice

A trader discovers his wife's cheating with his business partner. Upon returning home, at first he pretends nothing has happened, then with an excuse he sends the maid away and after denying his wife her forgiveness, threatening to take her children away from her, induces her to take her life.


Potpourri of songs

Story of a happy courtship and marriage, enlivened by the birth of a child and concluded with the departure of her husband for the war, from which she may not return. The songs to which the title refers are Lo specio me ga finger, Oh Trieste, oh blessed Trieste, Forbidden Music, Un peu d'amour, Le valse bleu, Baciami baciami, Santa Lucia and Tripoli bel suol d'amore.


The Trial of Phryne

Naples. A commoner is tried for trying to poison her husband and mother-in-law together. Thanks to her irrepressible beauty, the defense attorney appointed ex officio succeeds with an inspired and vehement harangue to overturn the situation, dragging the public and jurors to the side of the accused. Obtained from a short story by
Edoardo Scarfoglio Edoardo Scarfoglio (26 September 1860 – 6 October 1917) was an Italian author and journalist, one of the early practitioners in Italian fiction of realism, a style of writing that embraced direct, colloquial language and rejected the more or ...
, and referring to an ancient story of the ethereal Phryne, he remained famous above all because Vittorio De Sica, in the role of the defender of the prosperous graces of a commoner (played by Gina Lollobrigida), coined the term "increased physics" which will in fact mark an era and will be widely used throughout the 1950s and most of the 1960s. The exact reference, in the sentence pronounced in the film by De Sica during the speech, is: "increased physics" as opposed to the phrase "psychic handicapped". Vittorio De Sica in this episode is at his first appearance alongside Gina Lollobrigida; both actors, the following year, will seize great popularity as the marshal and the bersagliera in the film Bread, love and fantasy directed by Luigi Comencini. It should only be noted that the scene of the "trial in court" for Italian cinema is an unmissable event, starting with the forerunners. Defendant, get up! by Mario Mattoli (1939) with Erminio Macario up to San Giovanni taken off by Amleto Palermi (1940) with Totò, and in this film he finds a fundamental scene for aficionados. Later scenes of trials will make the fortune of Nando Mericoni "American in Rome" (Alberto Sordi) in the duology of Stefano Vanzina Un giorno in magistrale (1953) and Un americano a Roma (1954), up to Christian De Sica who in 1984 will pay an explicit homage to this scene played by his father, as Praetor of the film Mi fa causa (1984).


Cast


Il carrettino dei libri vecchi

*
Aldo Fabrizi Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's ''Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò in ...
: the street vendor of ancient books; * Pina Renzi: the newsagent * Enzo Staiola: his son *
Luigi Cimara Luigi Cimara (19 July 1891 – 26 January 1962) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 46 films between 1914 and 1960. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. Partial filmography * ''L'esplosione del forte B.2'' (1914) * ''Cura di baci'' ( ...
: gentleman on the convertible *
Marisa Merlini Marisa Merlini (6 August 1923 – 27 July 2008) was an Italian character actress active in Italy's post-World War II cinema. Merlini appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned from World War II to 2005. In Luigi Comencini's 19 ...
: lady on the convertible *
Galeazzo Benti Galeazzo Benti (6 August 1923 – 21 April 1993) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1942 and 1991. Life and career Born Galeazzo Bentivoglio in Florence, Italy, a descendant of the Bentivoglio family, which ru ...
: her lover *
Mario Riva Mario "Mariuccio" Bonavolontà (26 January 1913 – 1 September 1960), professionally known as Mario Riva, was an Italian television presenter and actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1941 and 1960. Life and career Born in Rome as Mario B ...
: the fussy customer


Ballo Excelsior

*
Alba Arnova Alba Arnova (15 March 1930 – 11 March 2018) was an Italian-Argentine ballerina and actress. Life and career Born in Buenos Aires as Alba Fossati, daughter of two Italian emigrants, Arnova studied piano at the Conservatory and enrolled in th ...
: the Progress *
Carlo Mazzone-Clementi Carlo Mazzone-Clementi (12 December 1920 – 5 November 2000) was a performer and founder of two schools of commedia, mime and physical theater as well as a contemporary and colleague of leaders of modern European theater. From his arrival in the U ...
: the Obscurantism * Anna Maria Bugliari: Italy * Mirdza Capanna: the Light *
Antonio Acqua Antonio Acqua (5 November 1893 - 18 October 1966) was an Italian actor of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Born in Rome, Acqua was mainly active on stage and in films as a character actor, specialized in roles of lawyers, military officers, politic ...
: the Science * Dino Raffaelli: the Art * Filippo Morucci:
Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...


Meno di un giorno

*
Alba Arnova Alba Arnova (15 March 1930 – 11 March 2018) was an Italian-Argentine ballerina and actress. Life and career Born in Buenos Aires as Alba Fossati, daughter of two Italian emigrants, Arnova studied piano at the Conservatory and enrolled in th ...
: Matilde *
Andrea Checchi Andrea Checchi (21 October 1916 – 29 March 1974) was a prolific Italian film actor. Biography Born in Florence, Checchi appeared in over 150 films in his lengthy career, which spanned from 1934 to his death in 1974. The son of a painter, he s ...
: Camillo * Gondrano Trucchi: the station master *
Bruno Corelli Bruno Corelli (20 August 1918 – 17 February 1983) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Bologna, after being part of a dramatic society of his hometown Corelli moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He ma ...
: the waiter * Gabriele Tinti: the young man on the train * Silvio Bagolini: the guide


Il Tamburino Sardo

*
Enzo Cerusico Enzo Cerusico (22 October 1937 – 26 November 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1948 and 1984. Life and career The son of a production manager, Cerusico started his career as a child actor in 1948 ...
: il tamburino * Vittorio Vaser: il capitano * Attilio Tosato: il sergente *
Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. Selected f ...
: il tenente *
Ugo Sasso Ugo Sasso, born Domenico Pasquale Giuseppe Sasso (23 March 1910 - 21 July 1981), was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Turin, in the early 1930s Sasso moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografi ...
: a soldier * Yvonne Cocco: a nun *
Pietro Tordi Pietro Tordi (12 July 1906 – 14 December 1990) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1942 and 1988. He was born in Florence, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Doctor Antonio'' (1937) - L'altro conspiratore * '' Don C ...
: un infermiere


Questioni d'interesse

*
Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish f ...
: il contadino *
Folco Lulli Folco Lulli (3 July 1912 – 23 May 1970) was an Italian partisan and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1946 and 1970. Life and career Born in Florence, the son of the baritone Gino Lulli and the elder brother of actor ...
: l'altro contadino * Mario Mazza: il carabiniere


L'idillio

* Maurizio Di Nardo: Guido * Geraldina Parriniello: Filli *
Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Paolo Stoppa was born in Rome into a family of a ministerial official, Luigi Stoppa, and Adriana De Antonis. He began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome ...
: Guido's father * Rina Morelli: Guido's mother *
Sergio Tofano Sergio Tòfano (20 August 1886 – 28 October 1973) was an Italian actor, theatre director, playwright, scene designer and illustrator. As a comics artist, he is best-known for creating '' Signor Bonaventura''. Biography Tofano was born in ...
: Guido's grandfather * Jone Morino: Maddalena


La morsa

*
Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 – 5 November 1979) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as ...
: Andrea Fabbri *
Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * '' Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * '' The Counte ...
: Giulia, his wife *
Roldano Lupi Roldano Squassoni, known professionally as Roldano Lupi (8 February 1909 – 14 August 1989) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1942 and 1967. He was born in Milan, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography ...
: Antonio Serra, her lover *
Goliarda Sapienza Goliarda Sapienza (; 10 May 1924 – 30 August 1996) was an Italian actress and writer. She is best known for her 1998 novel '' The Art of Joy''. Life Early life Sapienza was born on 10 May 1924 in Catania, Sicily, to (1880–1953) and (1880– ...
: Anna, la domestica


Pot-pourri di canzoni

* Barbara Florian: the bride *
Elio Pandolfi Elio Pandolfi (17 June 1926 – 11 October 2021) was an Italian stage, film and television actor, voice actor, and radio personality. Life and career Born in Rome, Pandolfi got a degree in accounting, and then enrolled at the Silvio d’Amico ...
: lo sposo *
Amalia Pellegrini Amalia Pellegrini (16 June 1873 – 13 September 1958) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than sixty films from 1935 to 1958. Selected filmography References External links * 1873 births 1958 deaths Italian film actress ...
: the grandmother *
Oscar Andriani Oscar Andriani (28 December 1905 – 17 July 1987) was an Italian actor and playwright. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1937 to 1969. Life and career Born in Brescia, Andriani made his stage debut at 17 years old in the theatrical com ...
: the father *
Elena Altieri Elena Altieri (born Elena Capucci; 27 July 1916 – 1 May 1997) was an Italian film and stage actress. She appeared in 27 films between 1937 and 1955. She was born in Stresa, the daughter of an Italian father and an English mother. She was mainl ...
: la moglie del maggiore * Gian Aldo Bettoni: il maggiore


Il processo di Frine

*
Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023) was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, and sculptor. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international ...
: Maria Antonia Desiderio *
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. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...
: l'avvocato difensore *
Arturo Bragaglia Arturo Bragaglia (7 January 1893 – 21 January 1962) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1938 to 1961. Selected filmography References External links * 1893 births 1962 deaths Italian male f ...
: il pubblico ministero * Giovanni Grasso jr.: il presidente del tribunale *
Turi Pandolfini Turi Pandolfini (1 November 1883 – 6 March 1962) was an Italian stage and film character actor. He appeared in 46 films between 1917 and 1961. Life and career Born in Catania, Sicily as Salvatore Pandolfini, the nephew of the actor Ange ...
: primo cancelliere * Armando Annuale: secondo cancelliere *
Vittorio Caprioli Vittorio Caprioli (15 August 1921 – 2 October 1989) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 109 films between 1946 and 1990, mostly in French productions. Biography Caprioli was born in Naples. Having graduated fr ...
: il farmacista *
Dante Maggio Dante Maggio (2 March 1909 – 3 March 1992) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 115 films between 1940 and 1975. Born in Naples into a family of actors, Maggio had a turbulent adolescence that led his father to send him in an institute f ...
: un testimone *
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 ...
*
Liana Del Balzo Liana Del Balzo (4 March 1899 – 26 March 1982) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 90 films between 1935 and 1979. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died in Rome, Italy. Even making her film debut quite late, in her for ...
*
Alberto Talegalli Alberto Talegalli (2 October 1913 – 10 July 1961) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 37 films between 1952 and 1961. He was born in Pincano (Spoleto) and died in Gualdo Tadino in the province of Perugia. Life and career After gr ...
*
Alfredo Rizzo Alfredo Rizzo (2 January 1902 – 6 September 1991) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and director. Life and career Born in Nice, France into a family of actors, Rizzo started his career as an actor of avanspettacolo and revue, often alongs ...
* Alberto Sorrentino


References


Bibliography

* Diffrient, David Scott. ''Omnibus Films: Theorizing Transauthorial Cinema''. Edinburgh University Press, 2014.


External links

* {{Heart (novel) 1952 films Films based on works by Edmondo De Amicis Films based on works by Luigi Pirandello 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Alessandro Blasetti Italian anthology films Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini Italian black-and-white films Works based on Heart (novel) Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Italian comedy films 1952 comedy films