''I magliari'' (internationally released as ''The Magliari'') is a

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

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 ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Francesco Rosi Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director. His film '' The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, often appeared to ha ...

. The film won the

silver ribbon The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

for best cinematography. In 2008 it was selected to enter the list of the

100 Italian films to be saved The list of the ''100 Italian films to be saved'' ( it, 100 film italiani da salvare) was created with the aim to report "100 films that have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". History The project was established ...

Plot summary

Totonno is the leader of a gang of Italian workers who for years have been in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. The group picks up rags and second hand cloths, marketing them to customers for sheer fabric with which to sew clothes. The work is dishonest. Mario is a fellow Italian in Germany to work as a miner but decides to return to Italy after losing his job. Totonno steals his passport to avoid the police and then offers Mario a job as “magliaro” (cloth seller). Mario decides to stay. Totonno and his gang are exposed and decide to relocate to Hamburg. They encounters a band of Pole, who're doing the same dirty work. Mario begins an affair with Paula, the wife of a wealthy man.

Cast

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter. Early life Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...

: Ferdinando Magliulo, detto Totonno *

Belinda Lee Belinda Lee (15 June 193512 March 1961) was an English actress. A profile for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website asserts: "of all the Rank Organisation's starlets, Belinda Lee stands out as the most notorious, yet paradoxicall ...

: Paula Mayer *

Renato Salvatori Renato Salvatori (20 March 1933 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actor. Born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca, Salvatori began his career in his teens playing juvenile, romantic roles. After working with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Ro ...

: Mario Balducci * Nino Vingelli: Vincenzo * Aldo Giuffrè: Armando *

Aldo Bufi Landi Aldo Bufi Landi (7 April 1923 – 2 February 2016) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013. Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) * '' Madunnella'' (1948) * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) * ''L ...

: Rodolfo Valentino *

Josef Dahmen Josef Dahmen (21 August 1903 – 18 January 1985) was a German stage, film and television actor.Youngkin p. 462. Dahmen was married to the actress Gisela von Collande, with whom he had a daughter Andrea Dahmen. His granddaughter Julia Dahmen is ...

: Mr. Mayer

Production

Filming took place in Hamburg, Germany in April–May 1959. It was one of a series of sexually aggressive roles Lee played in Europe.

Awards

It won best black and white photography at the Italian Film Critics Award.

Reception

''Senses of Cinema'' wrote "Unfairly neglected by critics and historians, the film is usually regarded a prelude to the Neapolitan director's ambitious, labyrinthine chronicles of power and corruption of the 1960s and 70s."

References

External links

* * *
Magliari
at Letterbox 1959 films Films directed by Francesco Rosi Italian drama films Films set in Hamburg Films set in West Germany Social realism in film Films about immigration to Germany 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub