''No Turning Back'' (Italian: ''Nessuno torna indietro'') is a 1945 Italian drama film 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 ''Quattro passi fra le nuvole''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during ...

and starring an ensemble cast including Elisa Cegani,

Valentina Cortese Valentina Cortese (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in François Truffaut's ''Day for Night'' (1973). Personal life Cortese was bor ...

Maria Denis Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

Doris Duranti Doris Duranti (25 April 1917 – 10 March 1995) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 43 films between 1935 and 1975. She had a years-long affair with Alessandro Pavolini, a Fascist politician who in 1945 was executed by Italian parti ...

, Mariella Lotti,

María Mercader María de la Asunción Mercader Forcada (; 6 March 1918 – 26 January 2011) was a Spanish film actress who appeared in some forty films between 1923 and 1992. Julian Gorkin wrote that her cousin was born Montserrat in the family of Carida ...

Dina Sassoli Dina Sassoli (15 August 1920 – 24 March 2008) was an Italian film actress. She was born on 15 August 1920, in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. She was best known for her work with Italian director Mario Camerini. She died on 24 March 2008 in Ro ...

and Vittorio De Sica. It is based on the 1938 novel of the same title by Alba De Cespedes.Goble p.113 It was shot at the Scalera Studios in Rome. 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 ...

s Guido Fiorini and

Carlo Egidi Carlo Egidi (20 May 1918 – 2 February 1989) was an Italian art director. He worked on the set design of more than sixty films during his career. One of his earliest credits was the neorealist ''Bitter Rice'' (1949).Ben-Ghiat p.256 Selected fil ...

. Made in 1943 during the Second World, due to disruption caused by the fighting in Italy, it did not go on release until January 1945.

Synopsis

In the 1930s a group of female students from very different backgrounds boarding together at university each deal with their own life challenges. one of them, Vinca, falls in love with a Spaniard who returns to fight in his country's civil war.

Cast

* Elisa Cegani as Silvia Custo *

as Valentina *

as Anna Bortone *

as Emanuela Andari * Mariella Lotti as Xenia Costantini *

as Vinca *

as Milly * Vittorio De Sica as Maurizio * Annibale Betrone as Il padre di Emanuela * Elvira Betrone as La madre superiora * Anna Capodaglio as Signorina Prudenzina *

Alberto Capozzi Alberto Capozzi (8 July 1886 – 27 June 1945) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1908 and 1945. Selected filmography * '' The Two Sergeants'' (1913) * ''The Open Door'' ( 1914 film) (La porta aperta) * ' ...

as Raimondo Horsch * Ada Dondini as Signorina Lorenza * Mino Doro as Dino Rizzi * Giuseppina Fiore as Stefania *

Adele Garavaglia Adele Garavaglia (1869–1944) was an Italian stage and film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media su ...

as La direttrice dell'istituto Grimaldi *

Nicola Maldacea Nicola Maldacea (29 October 1870 – 5 March 1945) was an Italian actor, comedian and singer.Gilda Marchiò Gilda Marchiò (1884–1954) was an Italian theatre actress.Bassnett & Lorch p.86 She also appeared in a number of films in the 1940s, her performances including a small role in the 1942 propaganda film ''Odessa in Flames''. Selected filmography ...

as Donna Ines *

Lamberto Picasso Lamberto Picasso (21 October 1880 – 17 September 1962) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1914 and 1953. Selected filmography * ''The Naked Truth'' (1914) * ''The Doctor's Secret'' (1931) * ''Paradise'' (1932) * ' ...

as Il rettore * Giuditta Rissone as Dora Belluzzi *

Checco Rissone Francesco "Checco" Rissone (7 July 1909 – 26 September 1985) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Rissone was born in Turin, the younger brother of the more famous Giuditta. He debuted on stage at a young age and ...

as Ignazio *

Ernesto Sabbatini Ernesto Sabbatini (8 September 1878 – 5 October 1954) was an Italian stage and film actor. Sabbatini emerged as a star in the Fascist era, appearing in films such as the drama '' Like the Leaves'' (1935).Landy p.252 Selected filmography * '' ...

as Monsignor Tommasi *

Bella Starace Sainati Bella Starace Sainati (June 2, 1878 – August 4, 1958) was an Italian stage and film actress.Goble p.190 Selected filmography * '' The Two Mothers'' (1938) * ''Naples Will Never Die'' (1939) * '' Goodbye Youth'' (1940) * ''Inspector Vargas'' ...

as Donna Antonia Bortone - nonna di Anna *

Filippo Scelzo Filippo Scelzo (19 April 1900 – 9 October 1980) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than forty films including '' Red Passport'' in which he played the male lead.Landy, Marcia. ''The Folklore of Consensus: Theatricality in the Italian ...

as Guido Belluzzi * Giovanna Scotto as Donna Matilde Bortone - madre di Anna *

Adriana Sivieri Adriana Sivieri (born 21 June 1918) is an Argentine-born Italian retired film actress.Bertellini, Giorgio. ''The Cinema of Italy'', p. 256, Wallflower Press, 2004. She also worked in radio and as a voice actor, dubbing foreign films for release i ...

as Pilar *

Edda Soligo Edda Soligo (1905–1984) was an Italian film and television actress.Verdone p.111 Selected filmography * ''Adam's Tree'' (1936) * '' The Man from Nowhere'' (1937) * ''The Former Mattia Pascal'' (1937) * ''Il signor Max'' (1937) * '' To Live'' (1 ...

as Vandina * Alberto Tavazzi as Ramiro * Enzo Fiermonte as Mario Ponte * Claudio Gora as Andrea * Roldano Lupi as Luis * Virgilio Riento as Don Alfonso Bortone - padre di Anna

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Schnapp, Jeffrey Thompson . ''Staging Fascism: 18BL and the Theater of Masses for Masses''. Stanford University Press, 1996. * Verdone, Luca. ''I Film di Alessandro Blasetti''. Gremese Editore, 1989.

External links

* 1945 films Italian drama films 1945 drama films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Alessandro Blasetti 1940s Italian films Films shot at Scalera Studios Films based on Italian novels {{1940s-Italy-film-stub