''The Gold of Naples'' ( it, L'oro di Napoli ) is a 1954

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

anthology film directed by

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) ...

. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The film is a tribute to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, where director De Sica spent his first years, this is a collection of 6 Neapolitan episodes: a clown exploited by a

hoodlum A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft. Early use The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...

; an unfaithful pizza seller (Loren) losing her wedding ring; the funeral of a child; the impoverished inveterate

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...

Count Prospero B. being reduced to force his doorman's preteen kid to play cards with him (and losing regularly); the unexpected and unusual wedding of Teresa, a prostitute; the exploits of "professor" Ersilio Miccio, a "wisdom seller" who "solves problems".

Cast

Segment ''Teresa''

Silvana Mangano Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...

– Teresa *

Erno Crisa Erno Crisa (10 March 1914 – 4 April 1968) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1944 and 1968. His last film was the spaghetti western ''Sugar Colt''. Partial filmography * ''Croisières sidérales'' (1942) ...

– Don Nicola

Segment ''Pizze a credito''

* Sophia Loren – Sofia *

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa Knight Grand Cross (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932. As a stage actor, his most celebrated ...

– Don Peppino, the widower * Giacomo Furia – Rosario, Sofia's husband *

Alberto Farnese Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1951 and 1989. He starred in the film ''Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of ...

– Alfredo, Sofia's lover * Tecla Scarano – Don Peppino's friend

Segment ''Il professore''

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo (; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and '' Napoli Milionaria''. Consid ...

– Don Ersilio Miccio *

Tina Pica Tina Pica (31 March 1884 – 15 August 1968) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage. Her film debut came in 1935 with '' The Three-Cornered Hat''. In the 1950s, she became a celebrity thanks to her role as Carame ...

– the elderly lady

Segment ''Il guappo''

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 ...

– Don Saverio Petrillo * Lianella Carell – Carolina, Don Saverio's wife

Release

Paramount did not take up its option to release the film in the United States and it wasn't until February 1957 that the film was finally distributed there, being shown at the Paris Theater in New York for 18 weeks, earning the distributor,

Distributors Corporation of America Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) was an American film distribution company which distributed 60 films in the US between 1952 and 1959. DCA distributed the 1956 re-releases of ''The Naked City'' (1948) and ''Brute Force'' (1947), both prod ...

, $72,000. The film consists of segments including "The Racketeer", "Pizza on Credit", "The Gambler" and "Theresa". The segment "A Child is Dead" was not initially released. The film was voted one of the Ten Best Foreign Language Films of 1957 by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

References

External links

* 1950s Italian-language films 1954 films Italian black-and-white films Italian anthology films Films directed by Vittorio De Sica 1954 comedy films Films set in Naples Films produced by Carlo Ponti Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Italian comedy films Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub