''The Assisi Underground'' is a 1985 American film made for television, written and directed by
Alexander Ramati
Alexander Ramati (December 20, 1921 – February 18, 2006), born David Solomonovich Grinberg,The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews'', which is based on a true-life account by Father Rufino Niccacci of events surrounding the Assisi Network, an effort to hide 300 Jews in the town of Assisi, Italy during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The film stars
Ben Cross
Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...
,
Irene Papas
Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...
Karlheinz Hackl
Karlheinz Hackl (16 May 1949 – 1 June 2014) was an Austrian actor and theater director whose varied career included theater, television, film and cabaret performances as well as musical performances (singing).
Biography
Hackl was born and was ...
, and James Mason in his final performance before his death in July 1984. His final role in a feature film was ''
The Shooting Party
''The Shooting Party'' is a 1984 British drama film directed by Alan Bridges and based on the book of the same name by Isabel Colegate. The film is set in 1913, less than a year before the beginning of the First World War, and shows the soon-t ...
''.
Plot
In 1943 Franciscan priest Rufino Niccacci is asked by the bishop of Assisi
Giuseppe Placido Nicolini
Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Maria Nicolini O.S.B. (1877–1973), born Villazzano, Italy, was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Assisi from 1928 until 1973. Prior to serving as Bishop, he was ordained as a Benedictine priest in 1899 and was appointed ...
to covertly rescue Italian
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
.
Cast
*
Ben Cross
Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...
Irene Papas
Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...
as Mother Giuseppina
* Maximilian Schell as Colonel Valentin Müller
*
Karlheinz Hackl
Karlheinz Hackl (16 May 1949 – 1 June 2014) was an Austrian actor and theater director whose varied career included theater, television, film and cabaret performances as well as musical performances (singing).
Biography
Hackl was born and was ...
as Captain von Velden
* Geoffrey Copleston as Chief of Police Bertolucci
*
Riccardo Cucciolla
Riccardo Cucciolla (5 September 1924 – 17 September 1999) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1953 and 1999. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival for the film '' Sacco & Vanzetti' ...
as Luigi Brizi
*
Angelo Infanti
Angelo Infanti (; 16 February 1939 – 12 October 2010) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1961 and 2010. He was born on 16 February 1939 in Zagarolo, Italy. He died on 12 October 2010 in Tivoli, Italy due ...
as Giorgio Kropf
*
Delia Boccardo
Delia Boccardo (born 29 January 1948) is an Italian film, television and stage actress.
Life and career
Born in Genoa, Boccardo spent her childhood and adolescence in Nervi, then studied at a Swiss college, at the Poggio Imperiale girls' sch ...
as Countess Cristina
*
Paolo Malco
Paolo Malco (born 10 April 1947) is an Italian film actor, best known for his roles in horror films, and later in many Italian TV mini-series.
From 1998 to 2006 he was cast in the drama ''Incantesimo''.
Filmography
*1973: ''Number one'' - ...
Elia Dalla Costa
Elia Dalla Costa (14 May 1872 – 22 December 1961) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Florence from 1931 until his death. Dalla Costa served as the Bishop of Padua from 1923 until 1931 whe ...
*
Venantino Venantini
Venantino Venantini (17 April 1930 – 9 October 2018) was an Italian film actor.Maurice Poli
Maurice Poli (2 December 1933 – 26 April 2020) was a French actor, mainly active in Italian productions. He is regarded as one of the few actors to have taken part in virtually all the genres developed in Italy in over more than thirty years.Enr ...
as Vito
*
Giancarlo Prete
Giancarlo Prete (5 February 1943 – 9 March 2001) was an Italian actor.
After he worked in the cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create t ...
as Col. Gay
*
Alessandra Mussolini
Alessandra is a female given name of Italian origin, meaning ''defender of men''. It is the Italian form of the female given name Alexandra and the female form of the male given name Alessandro.
Alessandra may refer to:
* Alessandra Ambrosio (bo ...
Alfredo Pea
Alfredo Pea (born 17 November 1954) is an Italian stage, film and television actor.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Pea studied acting at the "Studio di arti sceniche" drama school by Alessandro Fersen. He became first known in the mid-seventie ...
as
Gino Bartali
Gino Bartali (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in 19 ...
Critical response
The film received a poor response from critics.
History
In 1998,
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 ...
published an article about an Assisi resident who had come there as a refugee.
On October 5, 2012, '' The National Catholic Register'' published a long two-part article pegged to the opening of a new exhibition based on 25 years of research into the city's role in saving thousands of refugees, including approximately 300 Jews.