''The Transporter'' (Italian: ''La bisarca'') is a 1950 Italian comedy science fiction film directed by

Giorgio Simonelli Giorgio Simonelli (14 November 1901 Birth name: Giorgio Simonelli. – 3 October 1966), was an Italian film director, editor, screenwriter and journalist. Life and career Born in Rome, Simonelli obtained a high school diploma in business stud ...

and starring

Peppino De Filippo Peppino De Filippo (born Giuseppe De Filippo; 24 August 1903 – 27 January 1980) was an Italian actor. De Filippo was born in Naples, brother of actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and of Titina De Filippo. He made his stage debut at th ...

Silvana Pampanini Silvana Pampanini (25 September 1925 – 6 January 2016) was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the well-known soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation ...

Lída Baarová Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress who for two years was the mistress of the Nazi propaganda minister of Germany, Joseph Goebbels. Biography Life and career Born in Prague, Baarová ...

and

Aroldo Tieri Aroldo Tieri (28 August 1917 – 28 December 2006) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1939 and 1969. Life and career Born in Corigliano Calabro, son of the journalist and playwright Vincenzo Tieri, Aroldo Tier ...

. It is based on a radio program with the same name. It was shot at the

Farnesina Studios Farnesina may refer to: Architecture * Casa della Farnesina, an historic building of the ancient Rome, in the neighborhood of Trastevere, Rome * Palazzo della Farnesina, the headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the ...

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 Alberto Boccianti. It earned 182 and a half million lira at the Italian box office.Chiti & Poppi p.63

Synopsis

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

is engaged to a

manicurist A manicurist or nail technician is a person whose occupation is to style and shape a person's nails. This is achieved using a combination of decorating nails with coloured varnish, transfers, gems or glitter. Basic treatments include manicures a ...

working in the shop, but he grows jealous and picks a quarrel with one of the customers. Struck on the head he crashes into a radio playing a serial programme. Knocked unconscious he begins to have bizarre dreams about a

deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

and a car transporter which functions as a

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

Production

The film was based on the homonymous radio broadcast by Pietro Garinei and Sandro Giovannini, broadcast for two seasons from 1949 to 1951. A theatrical magazine was also taken from the radio broadcast, staged for the first time at the Sistina Theater in Rome. The film was shot in the Titanus studios at the Farnesina.

Cast

as Toni La Motta *

as Greta *

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 th ...

as Dolores Garcia *

as Mirella *

as Alberto * Carlo Campanini as Salvador Garcia *

Enrico Viarisio Enrico Viarisio (3 December 1897 – 1 November 1967) was an Italian theatre and cinema actor. Biography Equipped of a fine and elegant humour, Viarisio was discovered by actress Paola Pezzaglia Paolina Pezzaglia Greco (13 September 1886 &ndas ...

as Georges Durand *

Kay Medford Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical '' Funny Girl'' and the film adaptation of the same name, she was nominated ...

as Anna Paperiska *

Maria Donati Maria Donati (1898–1966) was an Italian stage, film and television actress.Porro & Laura p.30 Selected filmography * ''Five to Nil'' (1932) * '' The Ferocious Saladin'' (1937) * ''The Count of Brechard'' (1938) * '' Life Begins Anew'' (1945) ...

as Georges Durand's Wife *

Riccardo Billi Riccardo Billi (22 April 1906 – 15 April 1982) was an Italian film actor and comedian. With Mario Riva he appeared as ''Billi & Riva'', one of the most popular Italian comic duos in the 1950s. He appeared in around 85 films between 1938 ...

as Noè *

Franco Coop Franco Coop (27 September 1891 – 27 March 1962), was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1931 and 1960. He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Before the Jury'' (1931) * '' Moth ...

as Otto Krüger * Paul Muller as Complice di Anna Paperiska *

Galeazzo Benti Galeazzo Benti (6 August 1923 – 21 April 1993) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1942 and 1991. Life and career Born Galeazzo Bentivoglio in Florence, Italy, a descendant of the Bentivoglio family, which ru ...

as Cliente galante *

Tino Buazzelli Agostino "Tino" Buazzelli (13 September 1922 – 20 October 1980) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. He appeared in 46 films between 1948 and 1978. After a diploma of education, Buazzelli enrolled the Accademia d'Arte Dramma ...

as Dimitri *

Arturo Bragaglia Arturo Bragaglia (7 January 1893 – 21 January 1962) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1938 to 1961. Selected filmography References External links * 1893 births 1962 deaths Italian male f ...

as Mayor *

Virgilio Riento Virgilio Riento (29 November 1889 – 7 September 1959) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 108 films between 1936 and 1959. Selected filmography * ''Sette giorni all'altro mondo'' (1936) - Man on train * '' Il signor Max'' (1937) - ...

as Capo della banda di Arcachon *

Vittorio Sanipoli Vittorio Sanipoli (1915–1992) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. He appeared in around a hundred films and television series between 1942 and 1980. Life and career Born Luciano Sanipoli in Genoa, he made his acting debut in 1939 ...

as Johnny *

Nietta Zocchi Nietta Zocchi (10 July 1909 – 23 April 1981) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 70 films between 1936 and 1976. Selected filmography * ''The Amnesiac'' (1936) - Zelinda (uncredited) * '' To Live'' (1936) - Una spettatrice al concer ...

as Cliente di La Motta *

Bruno Corelli Bruno Corelli (20 August 1918 – 17 February 1983) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Bologna, after being part of a dramatic society of his hometown Corelli moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He ma ...

Mario Siletti Mario Giovanni Siletti (22 July 1903 – 19 April 1964) was an Italian actor. He was born in Turin. He performed in more than 160 films from 1932 to 1964. He began appearing in American films no later than 1946. From 1962 to 1964, he also portra ...

Giulio Donnini Giulio Donnini (born 17 February 1924) is an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Donnini made his film debut in 1946, in Giacomo Gentilomo's ''Teheran''. He got his first mayor role two years later, playing the epileptic murdere ...

* Franco Pesce

References

Bibliography

* Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959''. Gremese Editore, 1991. * Gundle, Stephen. ''Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism''. Berghahn Books, 2019.

External links

* 1950 films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Giorgio Simonelli 1950s science fiction comedy films Italian science fiction comedy films Films with screenplays by Ruggero Maccari Films based on radio series 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub