''Chronicle of Poor Lovers'' ( it, Cronache di poveri amanti) is a 1954 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Carlo Lizzani Carlo Lizzani (3 April 1922 – 5 October 2013) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and critic. Biography Born in Rome, before World War II Lizzani worked as a scenarist on such films as Roberto Rossellini's '' Germany Year Zero' ...

. It competed for the Grand Prix at the

1954 Cannes Film Festival The 7th Cannes Film Festival was held from 25 March to 9 April 1954. With Jean Cocteau as President of the Jury, the Grand Prix went to the '' Gate of Hell'' by Teinosuke Kinugasa. The festival opened with '' Le Grand Jeu'' by Robert Siodmak. Th ...

Plot

Florence, spring of 1925, the young typographer Mario moves to the Santa Croce district, in via del Corno, to be closer to his sweetheart, Bianca, thus becoming in turn a "crowsman" (pun between the name of the inhabitants of the via del "Corno", but also the croaking "crows") and finding themselves sharing the daily events of the inhabitants of that small popular world in the dark years of the rise of Fascism. His landlord is the farrier Corrado, known as Maciste, a well-known anti-fascist and formerly Ardito del Popolo like his friend Ugo, a street vendor of fruit and entertainment. The small street is also home to a couple of convinced fascists: the accountant Carlino Bencini, a legionary from Rijeka and an insurance employee; and his colleague, friend and roommate Osvaldo. Among the other neighbors, the cobbler Staderini; Ristori, owner of the small hotel that houses some prostitutes, including Elisa, the mistress of Nanni the "admonished"; Clara, Bianca's friend and constantly tormented by her boyfriend because she agrees to marry him; Alfredo Campolmi, owner of the grocery store and fresh husband of Milena. Immobile in bed but constantly informed of what is happening in the street thanks to the little servant Gesuina, "the Lady", a maitresse, establishes a dense network of relationships and binds everyone to herself through the loans she grants. The quiet coexistence in via del Corno is dramatically broken when Alfredo, just married and determined to make his business prosper, refuses to pay the contribution to the local section of the Fascist Party and suffers a brutal beating, which leaves him so heavily marked in the body that having to go to the sanatorium and give up the grocery store.

Cast

Anna Maria Ferrero Anna Maria Ferrero (18 February 1935 – 21 May 2018) was an Italian actress. Early life and career Born Anna Maria Guerra, she changed her last name to Ferrero in honor of the composer Willy Ferrero. Her film debut came at the age of 15 in '' ...

as Gesuina * Cosetta Greco as Elisa *

Antonella Lualdi Antonella Lualdi ( gr, Αντονέλλα Λουάλντι, born Antonietta de Pascale; 6 July 1931) is an Italian actress and singer. She appeared in many Italian and French films in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in Claude Autant-Lara's film '' ...

as Milena Campolmi * Marcello Mastroianni as Ugo * Bruno Berellini as Carlino Bencini * Irene Cefaro as Clara *

Adolfo Consolini Adolfo Consolini (5 January 1917 – 20 December 1969) was an Italian discus thrower. He competed at the 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and finished in 1st, 2nd, 6th and 17 place, respectively. While winning the gold medal in 1948 he set an O ...

as Maciste *

Giuliano Montaldo Giuliano Montaldo (born 22 February 1930) is an Italian film director. Biography While he was still a young student, Montaldo was recruited by the director Carlo Lizzani for the role of leading actor in the film '' Achtung! Banditi!'' (1951). ...

as Alfredo Campolmi * Gabriele Tinti as Mario Parigi *

Eva Vanicek Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

as Bianca Quagliotti *

Wanda Capodaglio Wanda Capodaglio (1 January 1889 – 30 August 1980) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 30 films between 1914 and 1970. Her brother Ruggero was married to actress Anna Capodaglio (the stage name of Anna Adele Alberta Gramatica) who ...

as La Signora * Mimmo Maggio * Andrea Petricca * Garibaldo Lucii as Staderini * Mario Piloni as Osvaldo * Ada Colangeli as Miss Fidalma * Giuseppe Angelini

References

External links

* 1954 films 1950s Italian-language films 1954 drama films Italian black-and-white films Films based on Italian novels Films directed by Carlo Lizzani Films set in Florence Films about fascists Films set in the 1920s Italian drama films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub