''Rita the American Girl'' (Italian: ''Rita, la figlia americana'') is a

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

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 ...

musicarello The musicarello (; plural: musicarelli) is a film subgenre which emerged in Italy and which is characterised by the presence in main roles of young singers, already famous among their peers, and their new record album. In the films there are alm ...

" film directed by

Piero Vivarelli Piero Vivarelli (26 February 1927 – 7 September 2010) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and lyricist. Vivarelli was born in Siena. After his father's death in 1942 at the hands of Yugoslav Partisans, Vivarelli joined the Republi ...

with

Totò Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...

and

Rita Pavone Rita Pavone (; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s. Singing career She was born in Turin, Italy. In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Scon ...

.Fehrenbach & Poiger p.159

Plot

Professor Serafino Benvenuti is a master of classical music who has the passion of the orchestra director. However, the young audience of the 60 does not appreciate classical composers like

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, and so Serafino is likely to have compromised his image as a director. One day Serafino receives the news that his adopted daughter Rita is about to return to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

from

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where she is studying. Serafino is very happy, because at least he can teach her the real music. However, Rita is deeply grown and changed: she follows the musical patterns of her time: the rock music and blues. Serafino gets very angry, especially when he discovers that his daughter falls in love with a young man, a member of a band called "The Rockets."

Cast

as Serafino Benvenuti *

as Rita D'Angelo *

Fabrizio Capucci Fabrizio Capucci (born 4 August 1939) is an Italian former actor and producer. Life and career Born in Rome, the brother of the fashion designer Roberto, Capucci studied acting at the drama school held by Pietro Sharoff in his hometown. After ...

as Fabrizio Carli *

Lina Volonghi Lina Volonghi (4 September 1914 – 24 February 1991) was an Italian stage, television and film actress. Life and career Born in Genoa as Giuseppina Angela Volonghi, a promising junior swimming champion in her youth, Volonghi started her actin ...

as Greta Wagner *

Umberto D'Orsi Umberto D'Orsi (30 July 1929 – 31 August 1976) was an Italian character actor and comedian. Born in Trieste, D'Orsi took a degree in law in 1953, but he was already active in theater from 1950, performing in small companies of prose and revu ...

as Orazio * Veronica as Diana *

Shel Shapiro The Rokes were a pop rock band formed in 1963 in Italy by English expatriates. Their most successful songs included "Piangi con Me", the original version of " Let's Live for Today", a US hit when re-recorded by The Grass Roots; and "Che Colpa A ...

(credited as David Norman Shapiro) *

Mike Shepstone The Rokes were a pop rock band formed in 1963 in Italy by English expatriates. Their most successful songs included "Piangi con Me", the original version of " Let's Live for Today", a US hit when re-recorded by The Grass Roots; and "Che Colpa ...

Bobby Posner Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a consta ...

Johnny Charlton Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

References

Bibliography

* Heide Fehrenbach & Uta G. Poiger. ''Transactions, Transgressions, Transformations: American Culture in Western Europe and Japan''. Berghahn Books, 2000.

External links

* 1965 films 1960s Italian-language films 1965 musical comedy films Musicarelli Films directed by Piero Vivarelli Films set in Rome Films shot in Rome Films with screenplays by Bruno Corbucci 1960s Italian films {{musical-comedy-film-stub