''The Doctor in Spite of Himself'' (Italian: ''Medico per forza'') is a 1931 Italian comedy film directed by

Carlo Campogalliani Carlo Campogalliani (10 October 1885 – 10 August 1974) was an Italian screenwriter, actor and film director. Campogalliani directed around eighty films during his career and acted in another fifty. He directed the 1934 sports film '' Stadio''.R ...

. It is a free adaptation of Molière's play

Le Médecin malgré lui ''Le Médecin malgré lui'' (; "The doctor/physician in spite of himself") is a farce by Molière first presented in 1666 (published as a manuscript in early 1667) at le théâtre du Palais-Royal by la Troupe du Roi. The play is one of sever ...

. It was made at the

Cines Studios The Cines Studios were film production studios located in the Italian capital Rome. They were established on Via Veio in 1930 by Stefano Pittaluga, head of the Cines film company, at the beginning of the sound era. It produced Italy's first sound ...

in Rome. After starring the comedy, for many times in the theaters, Ettore Petrolini reinvents ''Sganarelle'', in a way close to the character

Bertoldo ''Bertoldo'' was a biweekly magazine of surreal humour that ran from 14 July 1936 to 10 September 1943 under Italian Fascism. The magazine was based in Milan. While the '' Becco Giallo'' magazine put out courageous political satire against the f ...

of Giulio Cesare Croce. Referring to Petrolini, the film critic

Filippo Sacchi Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...

had written "''You have to accept it as it is, with his temperament and his admirable qualities ... with the grotesque and the joke that elude even without logic in the comic genre''"

Cast

* Ettore Petrolini as Sganarello *

Tilde Mercandalli The tilde () or , is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character came into English from Spanish, which in turn came from the Latin '' titulus'', meaning "title" or "superscription". Its primary use is as a diacritic (accent) in ...

as Lucinda *

Letizia Quaranta Letizia Quaranta (30 December 1892 – 9 January 1977) was an Italian film actress. Mainly active in the silent era, she also appeared in a few sound films. She was married to the director Carlo Campogalliani and appeared in a number of his films. ...

as Martina *

Augusto Contardi Augusto is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: *Augusto Aníbal *Augusto dos Anjos *Augusto Arbizo *Augusto Barbera (born 1938), Italian law professor, politician and judge *Augusto Bene ...

as Geronte *

Sergio Rovida Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

as Leandro *

Elma Krimer Elma or ELMA may refer to: Places United States * Elma, Iowa, a city in the US * Elma, New York, a town in the US ** Elma Center, New York * Elma, Washington, a city in the US * Elma Township, Richland County, North Dakota, in Richland Coun ...

as the nurse *

Dria Paola Dria Paola (1909–1993) was an Italian stage and film actress. She played the female lead in Alessandro Blasetti's late silent ''Sun'' (1929). In 1930 she starred in the first Italian sound film ''The Song of Love''.Forgacs & Gundle p.159 Sel ...

Enzo De Felice Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin America bu ...

* Checco Durante

References

Bibliography

* Moliterno, Gino. ''The A to Z of Italian Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1931 films 1931 comedy films Italian comedy films Italian black-and-white films 1930s Italian-language films Films directed by Carlo Campogalliani Films based on works by Molière Cines Studios films Italian films based on plays 1930s Italian films {{1930s-Italy-comedy-film-stub