''Tutta la città canta'' () is a 1945 Italian musical-

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

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...

Cast

Production

Pre-production

''Tutta la città canta'' was director

's third film as a director. The film was influenced by Hollywood films with the idea of putting a "revue" film on which featured the period's major singers and film stars, similar to that of ''

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929'', or simply ''The Hollywood Revue'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. Produce ...

''. Among the people in the film included

Nino Taranto Nino Taranto (28 August 1907 – 23 February 1986) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1924 and 1971. Life and career Born in Naples, Taranto started his career as a child actor in 1918 starring in some loca ...

, a Neapolitan stage and radio comedian, Natalino Otto, a jazz singer, and singer and actress

Vivi Gioi Vivi Gioi, born Vivienne Trumpy (2 January 1917, Livorno – 12 July 1975, Fregene) was an Italian actress. Her alternative professional last name Diesca was an anagram of De Sica, the famous actor and director with whom she was in love. She i ...

, and the three Bono brothers: Gianni, Vittorio and Luigi who were comedians somewhat similar to the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

. During the script writing period, Freda met the then cartoonist Federico Fellini who was 23 years old at the time. According to Freda, Fellini was introduced to him by

Vittorio Metz Vittorio Metz (18 July 1904 – 1 March 1984) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for more than 110 films between 1939 and 1977. Selected filmography * '' Defendant, Stand Up!'' (1939) * '' Lo vedi come sei... lo vedi ...

and took part in the screenwriting process, which Freda described Fellini's contributions as being "scrippling on sheet after sheet of paper with a pen. Thos were neither suggestions nor notes; Federico just kept drawing, and he drew huge naked women, real giangtesses, I think paroxsymally fat women were one of his hidden obsessions. Then, probably rightly so, he disappeared." Recording music for the film had to be done discreetly as by 1938 in Italy, Jazz was labeled as "Negroid music" an banished from the radio and American music was forbidden by 1940. When performing songs such as "Louisiana blues", guards were placed outside the recording studio to make sure Blackshirts would not catch them.

Filming

Shooting on the film began in 1943 at Pisorno studios in Tirrenia under the title ''6 x 8 / 48'', based on one of the musical numbers in the film. Within a few weeks, filming was cancelled due to the escalation of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Italy. Production on the film only began again on in 1945. Much of the cast was unavailable at the timeand the Vivi Gioi had gained a significant amount of weight. Freda chose to simply replace actors with doubles and used quick cutting to hide the actors being different from the audience.

Release

The film's title was changed to ''Tutta la città canta'', a title that echos the film ''

The Whole Town's Talking ''The Whole Town's Talking'' (released in the UK as ''Passport to Fame'') is a 1935 American comedy film starring Edward G. Robinson as a law-abiding man who bears a striking resemblance to a killer, with Jean Arthur as his love interest. It w ...

''. It was distributed in Italy by Effebi and was released on 15 August 1945. The film had little success in Italy as jazz music was no longer a hot topic as it had become legal once again. Freda spoke negatively about the film, stating that it was "a terrible turnip of a film" and that "the attempt at jazz was amusing. It was a spaghetti musical''" The film was restored by the Cineteca of Milan and shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival in 2010.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tutta la città canta 1945 films 1945 musical comedy films Italian musical comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Riccardo Freda 1940s Italian films