''The Secret of Santa Vittoria'' is a 1969 American

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

distributed by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. It was produced and directed by

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...

and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by

Ben Maddow Ben Maddow (born David Wolff, August 7, 1909 in Passaic, New Jersey – October 9, 1992 in Los Angeles, California) was an American screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 1970s. Educated at Columbia University, Maddow began h ...

and William Rose. It was based on the best-selling 1966 novel by Robert Crichton. The music score was by Ernest Gold and the cinematography by

Giuseppe Rotunno Giuseppe Rotunno (19 March 1923 – 7 February 2021) was an Italian cinematographer. Biography Sometimes credited as Peppino Rotunno, he was director of photography on eight films by Federico Fellini. He collaborated with several celebrated Ita ...

. The film stars

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters. Born in Rome, she worked her ...

Virna Lisi Verna or Virna may refer to: People * Verna Aardema (1911–2000), American author of children's books * Verna Bloom (1939–2019), American actress * Virna De Angeli (born 1976), Italian former sprinter * Virna Dias (born 1971), Brazilian reti ...

Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger (; born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger; 12 April 1928 – 19 January 2022) was a German actor and author, who appeared in more than 60 films from 1944 onwards. After becoming a film star in Germany in the 1950s, Krüger increa ...

, and

Sergio Franchi Sergio Franchi (born Sergio Franci Galli; April 6, 1926 – May 1, 1990) was an Italian-American tenor and actor who enjoyed success in the United States and internationally after gaining notice in Britain in the early 1960s. In 1962, RCA Vict ...

. It also features

Renato Rascel Renato Rascel (), stage name of Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 with the s ...

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Seven Beauties' ...

, and

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969), was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

; with

Valentina Cortese Valentina Cortese (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in François Truffaut's ''Day for Night'' (1973). Personal life Cortese was bor ...

making an uncredited appearance. It was shot almost entirely on location in

Anticoli Corrado Anticoli Corrado ( Romanesco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about northeast of Rome. Anticoli Corrado borders the following municipalities: Mandela, Marano Equo, Rocca C ...

, Italy (near Rome).

Plot

The story is set during World War II in the summer of 1943, immediately after the fall of Italy's Fascist government under

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, when the German army moved to occupy most of the country. The only substantial source of income for the little hill town of Santa Vittoria is its wine. The townsfolk learn that the German occupation forces will be arriving soon, with plans to confiscate most of Santa Vittoria's wine and truck it to Germany. The people organize under the inspiration of their new mayor, Italo Bombolini (

), who until days before had been thought of as a buffoon by everyone in town including his wife (

), and had only been appointed mayor by the town’s pro-Mussolini politicians as a ruse to deflect the people’s anger. With everyone working together, the villagers are able to hide a million bottles of wine by sealing them up in the galleries of an ancient Roman cave before the arrival of a German army detachment under the command of Sepp von Prum (

). The Germans, when they arrive, confiscate most of the almost 320,000 bottles of wine the villagers had left for them to find. However, the Germans have accounting records that there is supposed to be five times as many bottles. Von Prum comes to suspect the rest is hidden in or near Santa Vittoria. He and Bombolini, two very different men, engage in a battle of wits in the days that follow. The Germans’ search is made complicated when von Prum becomes infatuated with Caterina Malatesta (

), an educated and elegant woman unlike any other in town. She is secretly sheltering and has fallen in love with Tufa (

), a wounded captain in the Italian army, who, as it happens, has provided much of the brainpower for the town’s so far successful wine-hiding plans. Von Prum orders every building and home and the surrounding area searched. His men find no wine, but they discover Tufa hiding in Caterina’s home. Later von Prum, who by now is absolutely certain the village is indeed hiding one million bottles of wine from him, orders several villagers to be tortured into revealing its location. However, the villagers cunningly arrange for the Germans to select the pro-Mussolini politicians to be tortured, who because they had been arrested shortly after Bombolini had become mayor, genuinely do not know anything about any hidden wine. Finally, with time running out before the Germans must obey their orders and leave, a frustrated von Prum threatens to shoot mayor Bombolini in front of the assembled townspeople unless the hidden wine's location is told. No one speaks up. Not being a Nazi fanatic, and perhaps also because he had been somewhat appeased by Caterina’s having spent the previous night with him, which she did to save Tufa from being executed for desertion, von Prum silently accepts defeat and leaves the town without harming the mayor. After the Germans leave Santa Vittoria, the townspeople, led by Bombolini, celebrate their victory by dancing in the streets.

Cast

as Italo Bombolini *

as Caterina Malatesta *

as Sepp von Prum *

as Carlo Tufa *

as Rosa Bombolini *

as Babbaluche *

as Fabio de la Romagna *Patrizia Valturri as Angela Bombolini *

as Luigi *

Leopoldo Trieste Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer. Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He worked with directors such as Pietro Germi, Francis Ford Coppola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, ...

as Vittorini *

Gigi Ballista Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980. Life and career Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consulta ...

as Padre Polenta * Quinto Parmeggiani as Cop

Release

The world premiere was held in Westwood, Los Angeles on October 17, 1969 to benefit the Reiss-Davis Child Study Center, with

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

as chairman. It was selected as the opening-night film for the 13th Annual

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

Reception

The film earned theatrical rentals of $2.7 million in the United States and Canada and $6.5 million worldwide, which was considered a disappointment considering the popularity of the novel.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing (William A. Lyon and Earle Herdan) and Best Music Score (Ernest Gold). It was nominated for an Eddie award by the American Cinema Editors for best edited feature film. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Comedy and was nominated by the Golden Globe Awards committee for Best Director (Stanley Kramer), Best Actor Comedy (Anthony Quinn), Best Actress Comedy (Anna Magnani), Best Original Score (Ernest Gold) and Best Original Song ("Stay", Ernest Gold and Norman Gimbel)

References

External links

* * * *
''The Secret of Santa Vittoria''
at Rotten Tomatoes
''The Secret of Santa Vittoria''
at ''TV Guide'' (revised form of this 1987 write-up was originally published in ''The Motion Picture Guide'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Of Santa Vittoria, The 1969 films 1969 comedy films American comedy films Films based on American novels Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners Films directed by Stanley Kramer Films produced by Stanley Kramer United Artists films Italian Campaign of World War II films Films scored by Ernest Gold Films about wine 1960s English-language films 1960s American films