''Toto the Sheik'' ( it, Totò sceicco) is a 1950 Italian

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

Mario Mattoli Mario Mattoli (; 30 November 1898 – 26 February 1980) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 86 films between 1934 and 1966. His 1939 film ''Defendant, Stand Up!'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy ...

and starring

Totò Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...

.Curti p.145 It is a parody of desert films such as ''

The Son of the Sheik ''The Son of the Sheik'' is a 1926 American silent adventure/drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky. The film is based on the 1925 romance novel ''The Sons of the Sheik'' by Edith Maude Hull ...

'' and ''

Siren of Atlantis ''Siren of Atlantis'', also known as ''Atlantis the Lost Continent'', is a 1949 American black-and-white fantasy-adventure film, distributed by United Artists, that stars Maria Montez and her husband Jean Pierre Aumont. It was the first feature sh ...

''.

Plot

Antonio is the humble servant of a rich family, governed by the Marquis Gastone. Gastone is a young man madly in love with Lulu, but she betrays him, and he desperately enlist in the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

. The old Marchesa, his mother, persuades Antonio to enlist to watch over Gastone, and so he arrives in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

. There Antonio is led with barrel (because enlistment is secret), and is exchanged by Arabs for their sheikh, who came to lead the revolt against the western invaders. The vicissitudes follow one another, especially when the rebels discover that Antonio is not the Sheikh, and so, having also escaped a death sentence, Antonio ends up in a secret passage, in the lost city of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

, where he meets the beautiful Queen Antinea.

Cast

as Antonio Sapore, il maggiordomo *

Tamara Lees Tamara Lees (14 December 1924 – 22 December 1999), born as, Diana Helena Tamara Mapplebeck was an Austrian-born English film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1947 and 1961. Selected filmography * ''While the Sun Shines'' (1947) ...

as Antinea, la regina di Atlantide *

Laura Gore Laura Gore (30 September 1918 – 27 March 1957) was an Italian actress and voice actress. She appeared in 39 films between 1945 and 1955. She was born in Bussoleno, Turin as Laura Emilia Regli. While studying accounting, in 1940 she won th ...

as Lulù * Lauretta De Lauri as Fatma *

Ada Dondini Ada Dondini (18 March 1883 – 3 January 1958) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1916 and 1954. She was born in Cosenza, Italy and died in Chieti, Italy. Selected filmography * '' The Charmer'' (1931) * ''Just ...

as La marchesa * Kiki Urbani as La danzatrice araba *

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 Tieri ...

as Il marchese Gastone *

Cesare Polacco Cesare Polacco (14 May 1900 – 2 March 1986) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Venice, Polacco started his career in 1920 in the stage company of Emilio Zago, with whom he played most of the Goldoni's repertoire ...

as Mohamed *

Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish fa ...

as Il matto *

Mario Castellani Mario Castellani (24 November 190625 April 1978) was an Italian comic actor, best known as the sidekick of famous comic actor Antonio De Curtis (Totò). He appeared with the latter in all his major movies, as well as many of Totò's theatre pro ...

as Il colonnello dei ribelli *

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 a ...

as L'arabo della cella bianca *

Ubaldo Lay Ubaldo Lay (14 April 1917 - 27 September 1984) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Rome as Ubaldo Bussa, after graduating in law, Lay was admitted to the Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1939, from which he graduated with ...

as Il maggiore della legione *

Carlo Duse Carlo Duse (5 January 1898 – 9 September 1956) Birth name: Carlo Artemio e Vittorio Duse. With mention in margin of his date and place of death. was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1956. He was bor ...

as Un beduino *

Carlo Croccolo Carlo Croccolo (9 April 1927 – 12 October 2019) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Croccolo began his acting career on the radio and he appeared in more than 100 films since 1949. His debut ...

as Il cameriere *

Ughetto Bertucci Ughetto Bertucci (18 October 1907 – 25 June 1966) was an Italian film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1945 and 1960. Life and career He was born and died in Rome, Italy. A fruit vendor in a Roman market square ...

as Ludovico, l'autista

References

Bibliography

* Roberto Curti. ''Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969''. McFarland, 2015.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toto the Sheik 1950 films Italian comedy films 1950s Italian-language films 1950 comedy films Italian black-and-white films Films based on Atlantida Films directed by Mario Mattoli Films set in deserts Films about the French Foreign Legion Films with screenplays by Age & Scarpelli 1950s Italian films