''Vacation with a Gangster'' (Italian: ''Vacanze col gangster'') is a 1951 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

Dino Risi Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''. Biography Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...

and starring Marc Lawrence,

Giovanna Pala Giovanna Pala (born 15 July 1932) is an Italian actress. She appeared in ten films from 1951 to 1956. Filmography References External links

* 1932 births Living people Italian film actresses {{Italy-film-actor-stub ...

and

Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...

. The film's

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

was by

Flavio Mogherini Flavio Mogherini (25 March 1922 – 23 April 1994) was an Italian production designer, art director and film director. His career spanned from 1947 to 1994. His daughter Federica Mogherini was High Representative of the Union for Foreign A ...

Plot

A man sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Monteforte prison, while working on creating toys for children, puts a note in a papier-mâché horse in which he claims to have been unjustly imprisoned and appeals to anyone who reads the message to get him out of captivity. The horse, after alternating events, is collected in pieces in the hands of five schoolmates, Gianni, Andrea, Mario, Ugo and Nino, who find the note written by the prisoner. They then plan an escape and plan to all be promoted to go on vacation to Monteforte. Summer arrives, and the boys anonymously send a cake to the prisoner, the convict n. 5823 with a ticket but the prisoner is in the cell together with no. 6211, a dangerous criminal, with whom he shares the cake and who, unfortunately, also finds the ticket. By chance or by fate, even the members of the clan of prisoner 6211 are about to implement an escape plan to free their partner and take advantage of it. The beautiful singer Amelia is also part of the criminal company, who, once they meet the boys, makes them believe that the life prisoner is her brother, so that the boys hasten the escape plan, freeing the gangster Jack Menotti. The boys hide the fugitive in an abandoned boat, but realize too late that they have been deceived. Fortunately, the police arrive and handcuff the criminal and, some time later, will put convict no. 5823 in freedom.

Production

Produced by Antonio Mambretti for the Mambretti Cinematographic Production, the film was shot in 1951 in Rome in the Titanus studios of the Farnesina. The film was released in theaters the following year. The film sees the debut of Mario Girotti, then 12, then known as Terence Hill, in the role of Gianni, the orphan leader who pushes the team to the enterprise.

Cast

* Marc Lawrence as Jack Mariotti *

Giovanna Pala Giovanna Pala (born 15 July 1932) is an Italian actress. She appeared in ten films from 1951 to 1956. Filmography References External links

* 1932 births Living people Italian film actresses {{Italy-film-actor-stub ...

as Amelia *

as Gianni * Lamberto Maggiorani as Il galeotto innocente N. 5823 * Gaetano Pessina as Andrea * Luciano Caruso as Mario * Alfredo Baldieri as Nino * Antonio Machi as Ugo *

Silvio Bagolini Silvio Bagolini (4 August 1914 – 26 September 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1936 and 1973. Life and career Born in Bologna, Bagolini studied architecture at the Bologna University, without g ...

as Teacher *

Dina Perbellini Dina Perbellini (14 January, 1901–2 April, 1984) was an Italian actress. She appeared in over sixty films and television series between 1934 and 1969 and was also a leading voice actress, dubbing foreign films for release in Italy. She made her ...

Anna Arena Anna Arena (June 21, 1919 – August 19, 1974) was an Italian film actress.Smith p.116 Selected filmography * ''Jealousy'' (1942) * '' Vacation with a Gangster'' (1951) * ''The Piano Tuner Has Arrived'' (1952) * '' Beauties in Capri'' (1952) * ' ...

Bianca Doria Bianca Doria (22 September 1915 – 2 February 1985) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than forty films during her career. She appeared in the 1963 peplum ''Hercules Against the Mongols''.Hughes, Howard. ''Cinema Italiano: The Com ...

* Teresa Macri * Mario Balice * Aldo Alimonti * Mario Galli * Mario Cianfanelli

References

External links

* 1952 films 1952 comedy films Italian comedy films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Dino Risi Films scored by Mario Nascimbene Lux Film films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub