''Toto Looks for a House'' ( it, Totò cerca casa) is a 1949 Italian comedy film directed by

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the ''Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was awa ...

and Steno. The film is stylistically related to Italian neorealism, though it can be seen as a parody. It was a commercial success, being the second most popular film at the box office that year.Bondanella p.113

Plot

In an afterwar Italy the problem for every citizen is to find a comfortable place to live. Beniamino Lomacchio (Totò) is one of the many people without a home and, together with his family, he's been living in a school. He cannot live there much longer, though, because school re-opens in September. Beniamino is a poor clerk and does not know what to do; he just hopes he'll find a comfortable apartment with a landlord who doesn't ask for too much rent. One day, however, Beniamino finds a place to move into: a cemetery caretaker's house. Not all the family is convinced it's a great idea. They stay there for a short while, fleeing when they think they see a ghost. After leaving the house, Beniamino finds another job at the studio of an artist. But even here the family Lomacchio will not agree with Beniamino. They then find a large apartment. But they've been cheated; the apartment has already been rented out to another family. Eventually, even after staying in the Colosseum, Beniamino is in a car accident. He's finally found a home: a psychiatric hospital.

Cast

* Totò as Beniamino Lomacchio * Alda Mangini as Amalia, la moglie de Lomacchio * Lia Molfesi as Aida, la figlia *

Mario Gattari is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in List of video games featuring Mario, ...

as Figlio * Aroldo Tieri as Checchino, il fidanzato * Folco Lulli as Turco * Enzo Biliotti as Il sindaco * Mario Castellani as Truffatore * Pietro De Vico as Cinese *

Flavio Forin ''Flavio, re de' Longobardi'' ("Flavio, King of the Lombards", HWV 16) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Matteo Noris's ''Flavio Cuniberto''. It was Hand ...

as Vedovo *

Giacomo Furia Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998. Life and career Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting career ...

as Pasquale Saluto *

Marisa Merlini Marisa Merlini (6 August 1923 – 27 July 2008) was an Italian character actress active in Italy's post-World War II cinema. Merlini appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned from World War II to 2005. In Luigi Comencini's 1953 ...

as Patronessa * Luigi Pavese as Capo ufficio * Cesare Polacco as Vice custode *

Alfredo Ragusa Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...

as Bidello

References

Bibliography

* Bondanella, Peter. ''A History of Italian Cinema''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.

External links

* 1949 films 1949 comedy films Italian comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Italian black-and-white films Films set in Rome Films directed by Mario Monicelli Films directed by Stefano Vanzina Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Films with screenplays by Age & Scarpelli 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-comedy-film-stub