''The Last Dance'' (Italian: ''L'ultimo ballo'') is a 1941 Italian " white-telephones"

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

Camillo Mastrocinque Camillo Mastrocinque (11 May 1901 – 23 April 1969) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 60 films between 1937 and 1968, and is known to horror film fans for directing ''Terror in the Crypt'' (1964) starring ...

and starring

Elsa Merlini Elsa Merlini (26 July 1903 – 22 February 1983), was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 29 films between 1931 and 1976. She was born in Trieste, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''The Private Secretary'' (1931) * ...

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) 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. Al ...

and

Renato Cialente Renato Cialente (2 February 1897 – 25 November 1943) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1920 and 1943. His younger sister Fausta Cialente (1898-1994) was a novelist, journalist and political activist. L ...

. It is considered to be in the tradition of

White Telephone ''Telefoni Bianchi'' (; white telephones) films, also called deco films, were made by Italian film industry in the 1930s and the 1940s in imitation of American comedies of the time in a sharp contrast to the other important style of the era, cal ...

films, popular during the Fascist era.Moliterno p.10 It is based on a play by the Hungarian writer

Ferenc Herczeg Ferenc Herczeg (born ''Franz Herzog'', 22 September 1863 in Versec, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire – 24 February 1954 in Budapest, Hungary) was a Hungarian playwright and author who promoted conservative nationalist opinion in his coun ...

and features Merlini in a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as mother and daughter. It was shot at

Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), 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 wer ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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 ...

Alfredo Montori Alfredo Montori (1893-1969) was an Italian art director. He designed the sets for more than a hundred films.Smith p.116 Selected filmography * '' My Little One'' (1933) * '' Lady of Paradise'' (1934) * '' The Ferocious Saladin'' (1937) * ''A Lad ...

Cast

as La baronessa Titta Marcus & la baronessina Giuditta Marcus *

as Il professore Stefano Boronkay *

as Andrea Marcus *

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa Knight Grand Cross (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932. As a stage actor, his most celebrated ...

as Felix *

Margherita Bagni Margherita Bagni (pseudonym of Margherita Maria Bagna; 21 February 1902 – 2 July 1960) was an Italian actress and voice actress. She appeared in 37 films between 1918 and 1959. She was born in Turin, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Daughte ...

as La vedova Jurika *

Nerio Bernardi Nerio Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. He was born in Bologna, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Nero'' (1922) * ''The Sheph ...

as Il pittore Blanche *

Armando Migliari Armando Migliari (29 April 1889 – 15 June 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 103 films between 1914 and 1965. He was born in Latium, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''The Last of the Bergeracs'' (1934 ...

as Il capo cameriere Vittorio *

Carlo Minello Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

as Marcello * Luisa Garella as La Zelinger, l'amica pettegola *

Nando Tamberlani Nando Tamberlani (1896–1967) was an Italian film actor. A character actor in Italian cinema of the postwar era, he was the brother of actor Carlo Tamberlani. Another brother Ermete Tamberlani was also an actor. He appeared in a number of peplum ...

as Il rettore de l'Universita *

Enrico Luzi Enrico Luzi (27 September 1919 – 18 October 2011) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1941 to 1980. Selected filmography References External links * 1919 births 2011 deaths Italian male film actors ...

as Il fattorino curioso * Sussy Dewy as La bionda nel notturno *

Vittoria Mongardi Vittoria Mongardi (26 February 1926 – 26 November 1975) was an Italian singer and actress, mainly successful between the second half of the 1940s and the 1950s. Life and career Born in Bologna, after starting out as a model and appearing in min ...

as La bruna accompagnata nel locale notturno * Alessandra Foscari as Una ragazza nel locale notturno * Giulia Martinelli as Una ragazza nel locale notturno

References

Bibliography

* Moliterno, Gino. ''Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2008. * Piero Pruzzo & Enrico Lancia. ''Amedeo Nazzari''. Gremese Editore, 1983.

External links

* 1941 films Italian comedy films Italian black-and-white films 1941 comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Camillo Mastrocinque Films shot at Cinecittà Studios 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-film-stub