''Fracchia la belva umana'' (''Fracchia the fanatic'' or ''Fracchia The Human Beast)'' is a 1981 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

Neri Parenti Neri Parenti (born 26 April 1950, in Florence) is an Italian film director and writer. He is known for comedy films, including the series starring Paolo Villaggio playing the character Ugo Fantozzi, and a later series of '' cinepanettoni'' - za ...

. The film is loosely inspired by

The Whole Town's Talking ''The Whole Town's Talking'' (released in the UK as ''Passport to Fame'') is a 1935 American comedy film starring Edward G. Robinson as a law-abiding man who bears a striking resemblance to a killer, with Jean Arthur as his love interest. It w ...

. It was screened at the 67th Venice International Film Festival as an Italian comedy. Its cast includes:

Paolo Villaggio Paolo Villaggio (; 30 December 1932 – 3 July 2017) was an Italian actor, voice actor, writer, director and comedian. He is noted for the characters he created with paradoxical and grotesque characteristics: Professor Kranz, the ultra-timid G ...

, Lino Banfi and the then young

Massimo Boldi Massimo Antonio Boldi (born 23 July 1945) is an Italian stand-up comedian and actor. Biography Boldi was born in Luino on 23 July 1945. In 1955 his family moved to Milan, where he joined evening classes and began working as a window-dresser an ...

and

Francesco Salvi Francesco Salvi (born 7 February 1953) is an Italian actor, singer, screenwriter, and director. Biography Born in the northern town of Luino, near the Italian border with Switzerland, Salvi started his career in the mid-1980s. His performan ...

Plot

Due to misfortune, Giandomenico Fracchia (an employee in a chocolate factory) ends up becoming a body double of a terrible criminal known as "the human beast": which leads into series of problems and misunderstandings for him.

Cast

as Giandomenico Fracchia / La Belva Umana * Lino Banfi as Commissario Auricchio * Anna Mazzamauro as Miss Corvino *

as Neuro *

Sandro Ghiani Sandro Ghiani (born 12 August 1952) is an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Carbonia, Sardinia, the son of a postal clerk, Ghiani studied in a seminary, the Institute of Don Orione in Tortona in Piedmont, where, ...

as De Simone *

Antonio Allocca Antonio Allocca (24 June 1937 – 31 December 2013) was an Italian character actor. Life and career Born in Portici, Naples, Allocca debuted on stage in 1956, then in 1958 he worked with Eduardo De Filippo at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan ...

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

's Marshal * Jole Silvani as Palmira (as Iole Silvani) *

Fiammetta Baralla Fiammetta Baralla (2 May 1943 - 7 September 2013) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than forty films from 1958 to 2006. Selected filmography References External links * 1943 births 2013 deaths Italian film actresses ...

as chubby girl doing jogging *

Ugo Bologna Ugo Bologna (11 September 1917 – 29 January 1998) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Milan, the son of a municipal employee and a housewife, in 1936 Bologna started working as a primary school teacher, and in 1939 he atte ...

as bank director * Giulio Farnese as afterworld's gatekeeper * Renzo Rinaldi as Carabinieri's Colonel * Renato Cecchetto as

DIGOS Digos, officially the City of Digos ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Digos; fil, Lungsod ng Digos), is a 2nd class component city and capital of the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 188,376 people. ...

' Chief *

Roberto Della Casa Roberto Della Casa (born 14 October 1942) is an Italian actor. He appeared in more than sixty films since 1970. Selected filmography References External links * 1942 births Living people Italian male film actors Male actors from R ...

as Tino *

as Pera *

Gigi Reder Gigi Reder (born Luigi Schroeder; 25 March 1928 – 8 October 1998) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was best known for the role of Filini in the ''Fantozzi'' film series. Biography Born in Naples in to a German father and a Neapolita ...

as The Human Beast's mother

Production

It was the first of the two films about Fracchia, a character created by Paolo Villaggio, along with the most famous

Ugo Fantozzi Ugo Fantozzi () is a fictional character, appearing in Italian literature and film, created by Paolo Villaggio. The character, initially part of Villaggio's television monologues, later became protagonist of a series of short stories published at ...

. Despite being published six years after Fantozzi, and pulling many gags from Fantozzi's movies, the film was a success and became a

cult movie A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in ...

. Many gags from the movie became famous (IE the sit on the pouf) and defined the typical repertoire of Paolo Villaggio (right in this film was introduced at the cinema the famous joke «Com'è umano lei!» («How humane you are!») was first born on TV). Among the characters the noteworthy performances are: Gigi Reder who plays the mother of "The Human Beast" and Anna Mazzamauro who plays the lover of "The Human Beast" (whose love is not reciprocate by Fracchia). Honorary mentions are: two youth Massimo Boldi and Francesco Salvi playing as accomplices of "The Human Beast". Memorables scenes are the gags between the Chief of Police ''Commissario Auricchio'' ( Lino Banfi) and his subordinante ''Appuntato De Simone'' (

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fracchia la belva umana 1981 films 1981 comedy films Italian comedy films 1980s Italian-language films Films set in Rome Films directed by Neri Parenti Films about identity theft Films scored by Fred Bongusto 1980s Italian films