''Romulus and the Sabines'' (Italian: ''Il ratto delle sabine'') is a 1945 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 ol ...

directed by

Mario Bonnard Mario Bonnard (24 December 1889 – 22 March 1965) was an Italian actor and film director. Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World ...

and starring

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 ...

Carlo Campanini Carlo Campanini (5 October 1906 – 20 November 1984), was an Italian actor, singer and comedian. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1939 and 1969. Life and career Born in Turin, Campanini attended a technical school and a course of ...

, and

Clelia Matania Clelia Matania (28 March 1918 – 14 October 1981) was an Italian film and voice actress. Life and career Born in London, the daughter of the Capri-born naturalized Briton painter Fortunino Matania (best known as Saturnino), Matania attended t ...

. It was one of several of Totò's postwar comedies to use elements of neorealism.Brizio-Skov p.115 The film is based on the German comedy '' Der Raub der Sabinerinnen'' (1884) by Franz von Schönthan and Paul von Schönthan.

Plot summary

Toto is the actor of a penniless theater group: they arrive in a small town to offer their theatrical calendar to the mayor. Meanwhile, a professor: caught but shy, presents to the community his play, "The Rape of the Sabine Women", but the provincial inhabitants hate mortally the theater. The professor is in despair, but Toto willingly accepts the part of the work, just to eat something. At the end, the opera is performed at the theater, but it is a disaster, because the genre is drama, but Toto gullibility makes it a comic farce.

Cast

as Aristide Tromboni *

as Maestro Ernesto Molmenti *

as Rosina *

Laura Gore Laura Gore (30 September 1918 – 27 March 1957) was an Italian actress and voice actress. She appeared in 39 films between 1945 and 1955. She was born in Bussoleno, Turin as Laura Emilia Regli. While studying accounting, in 1940 she won th ...

as Paolina *

Olga Solbelli Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia, ...

as Matilde * Luisa Alliani as Ermenegilda *

Lia Corelli Lia is a feminine given name. In the Spanish-speaking world, it is accented Lía. In America, the name may be a variant of Leah or Lea. Lia may be a diminutive of various names including Julia, Cecilia, Amelia, Talia, Cornelia, Ophelia, Rosali ...

as Mariannina *

Fosca Spadaro Fosca may also refer to: Literature and film * ''Fosca'' (novel), an 1869 novel by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti **'' Passion of Love'', a 1981 Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola adapted from Tarchetti's novel *Raimon Fosca, a man cursed to live ...

as La figlia di Tancredi *

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 Tancredi *

Mario Pisu Mario Pisu (21 May 1910 – 17 July 1976) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Montecchio Emilia, Pisu was considered to be one of the most elegant performers of the Italian cinema. He began his career on stage and screen in ...

as Alberto Randoni *

Giuseppe Rinaldi Giuseppe Rinaldi (14 September 1919 – 15 December 2007) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Rinaldi appeared in more than 20 films between 1939 and 1982. During his time, he was considered of be one of the most greatest and inf ...

as Emilio *

Claudio Ermelli Claudio Ermelli (24 July 1892 – 29 October 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1915 to 1962. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ermelli, Claudio 1892 births 1964 death ...

as Germani *

Mario Castellani Mario Castellani (24 November 190625 April 1978) was an Italian comic actor, best known as the sidekick of famous comic actor Antonio De Curtis (Totò). He appeared with the latter in all his major movies, as well as many of Totò's theatre pro ...

as Il proprietario del teatro *

Peppino Spadaro Peppino Spadaro (1898-1950) was an Italian actor.Paietta p.162 His brother Umberto Spadaro was also an actor. Selected filmography * ''1860'' (1934) * ''Saint John, the Beheaded'' (1940) * ''Jealousy'' (1942) * ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1942) ...

as Turiddu, il macchinista *

Aristide Garbini Aristide Garbini (1890–1950) was an Italian film actor.Verdone p.83 Selected filmography * '' The Crusaders'' (1918) * ''Messalina'' (1924) * '' Miryam'' (1929) * ''Five to Nil'' (1932) * '' Ragazzo'' (1934) * '' The Old Guard'' (1934) * ''Ald ...

as Bartolomeo *

Ciro Berardi Ciro Berardi (1909–1961) was an Italian actor.Bìspuri p.51 Selected filmography * ''Light in the Darkness'' (1941) * ''Lucky Night'' (1941) * '' Street of the Five Moons'' (1942) * ''After Casanova's Fashion'' (1942) * ''Love Story'' (1942) * ...

as Il brigadiere dei carabinieri *

Italo Pirani Italo may refer to: *Italo-, a prefix indicating a relation to Italy or Italians Film * ''Italo'' (film), a 2014 comedy film * Italo crime, a genre of crime film Music genres *Italo disco *Italo dance *Italo house People *Italo Allodi (1928– ...

as Il direttore della scuola *

Erminio Spalla Erminio Spalla (7 July 1897 – 14 August 1971) was an Italian professional heavyweight Boxer (boxing), boxer, film actor and singer. Spalla studied fine arts in Brera (district of Milan), Brera, when in 1910 he saw film footage of the world box ...

as Giovanni, il carrettiere

References

Bibliography

* Flavia Brizio-Skov. ''Popular Italian Cinema: Culture and Politics in a Postwar Society''. I.B.Tauris, 2011.

External links

* 1945 films 1945 comedy films Italian comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Mario Bonnard Italian films based on plays Italian remakes of foreign films Remakes of German films Films about theatre Italian black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Mario Amendola 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-comedy-film-stub

Plot summary

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links