''Doctor and the Healer'' ( it, Il medico e lo stregone) is a 1957 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 Monicelli.

Plot

The young Dr. Marchetti relocates to a small mountain village in rural southern Italy. He quickly runs into trouble with ''

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' Antonio Locoratolo, the local quack who prescribes dubious cures and potions to the naïve and superstitious populace. ''Don'' Antonio knows that his methods are fraudulent and sees Dr. Marchetti as a threat to his livelihood. ''Don'' Antonio convinces the local populace not to get vaccinated against typhoid fever. To convince the population of their continued need for him, ''Don'' Antonio arranges for an old man in the village to feign sick for several days and not improve under Dr. Marchetti's treatment, but who is miraculously "cured" during a visit by ''Don'' Antonio. Meanwhile, Pasqua, Dr. Marchetti's young assistant, has fallen in love with him, even though he does not notice her. She is given a love potion by ''Don'' Antonio's assistant, Scaraffone, but it only causes Dr. Marchetti stomach pains; Dr. Marchetti thinks ''Don'' Antonio has tried to poison him. The mayor's sister, Mafalda, is pining after her fiancé, Corrado, who was last heard from 15 years ago, and is presumed to have been lost fighting in Russia on the Eastern Front. For years, ''Don'' Antonio has been using fraudulent

fortune-telling Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical wi ...

techniques to tell her that Corrado is still alive, as she pays well for each session, even though he desires her for himself. She puts an advertisement in the paper to see if anybody has heard from or seen her fiancé. When ''Don'' Antonio tells Mafalda that her beloved Corrado is dead, she denounces him to the police as a fraud. The following day, she receives a telegram stating that Corrado is alive and will meet her at the train station. The reunion is not a happy one: Corrado is confused about details of his life, telling her he was captured "by bedouins". He says has been living 40 km away, unhappily married, and asks her for money. She gives him money and tells him to leave, and he boards the next train. Meanwhile, Dr. Marchetti goes to the police to seek justice over the supposed "poisoning" and Mafalda's denouncement of ''Don'' Antonio, but the charges do not stick. ''Don'' Antonio's niece Rosina is in love with a soldier from a poor family. Furious, he locks her in and forbids her from continuing the relationship. Despondent, she takes an overdose of barbiturates, forcing Don Antonio to publicly seek the doctor's help to save his niece's life. The movie ends with Dr. Marchetti administering

typhoid vaccine Typhoid vaccines are vaccines that prevent typhoid fever. Several types are widely available: typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), Ty21a (a live oral vaccine) and Vi capsular polysaccharide vaccine (ViPS) (an injectable subunit vaccine). They are ab ...

s to the local populace, while ''Don'' Antonio leaves on a train.

Cast

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

- Antonio Locoratolo * Marcello Mastroianni - Dr. Francesco Marchetti * Marisa Merlini - Mafalda * Lorella De Luca - Clamide *

Gabriella Pallotta Gabriella Pallotta (born 6 October 1938) is an Italian film actress. She appeared in 22 films between 1956 and 1974. For the film ''The Pigeon That Took Rome ''The Pigeon That Took Rome'' is a 1962 American comedy war film directed and written ...

- Pasqua *

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter. Early life Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...

- Corrado *

Virgilio Riento Virgilio Riento (29 November 1889 – 7 September 1959) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 108 films between 1936 and 1959. Selected filmography * ''Sette giorni all'altro mondo'' (1936) - Man on train * '' Il signor Max'' (1937) - ...

- Umberto *

Carlo Taranto Carlo Taranto (18 October 1921 – 4 April 1986) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1949 and 1984. Partial filmography * ''The Firemen of Viggiù'' (1949) * ''Assi alla ribalta'' (1954) * ''Wives and Obscurities'' ( ...

- Scaraffone * Ilaria Occhini - Rosina * Riccardo Garrone - Sergeant * Giorgio Cerioni - Galeazzo Pesenti *

Gino Buzzanca Gino Buzzanca (8 March 1912 – 5 May 1985) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Messina, Buzzanca began his career on stage, specializing as an actor of the Sicilian language theater, and starring in works by Luigi Pirande ...

- Il sindaco di Pianetta

References

External links

*
''Doctor and the Healer''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...

1957 films Films scored by Nino Rota 1950s Italian-language films 1957 comedy films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Mario Monicelli Medical-themed films Films with screenplays by Age & Scarpelli Italian comedy films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub