''The Gold of Naples'' ( ) is a

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

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

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

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. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

. It was entered into the

1955 Cannes Film Festival The 8th Cannes Film Festival took place from 26 April to 10 May 1955. French writer and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol served as jury president for the main competition. The first ''Palme d'Or'' was awarded, as the highest prize of the Festival, to ' ...

. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Plot

The film is a tribute to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

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

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

exploited by a hoodlum; an unfaithful

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

seller (Loren) losing her wedding ring; the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

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 ele ...

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 Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

; the exploits of "professor" Ersilio Miccio, a "wisdom seller" who "solves problems".

Cast

"Il guappo" ("The Racketeer")

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 risat ...

– Don Saverio Petrillo * Lianella Carell – Carolina, Saverio's wife * Pasquale Cennamo – Don Carmine Savarone, the squatter * Agostino Salvietti – Gennaro Esposito, the graveyard mourner

"Pizze a credito" ("Pizza on Credit")

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

– Sofia *

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Paolo Stoppa was born in Rome into a family of a ministerial official, Luigi Stoppa, and Adriana De Antonis. He began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome ...

– Don Peppino, the widower *

Giacomo Furia Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998. Life and career Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting care ...

– 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 from 1951 to 1989. He starred in the film '' Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the ...

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

"Funeralino"

* Teresa De Vita – The mother

"I giocatori" ("The Gambler")

– Count Prospero B. * Pierino Bilancioni – Gennarino, the young gambler * Lars Borgström – Federico, the doorkeeper * Mario Passante – Giovanni, the butler * Irene Montaldo – Countess B.

"Teresa" ("Theresa")

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 * '' Sideral Cruises'' (1942) - L'h ...

– Don Nicola * Ubaldo Maestri – Don Ubaldo

"Il professore"

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...

– 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 Caram ...

– The elderly lady * Nino Imparato – Gennaro * Gianni Crosio – Alfonso Maria di Sant'Agata dei Fornai

Release

The original Italian release comprises six segments: "Il guappo", "Pizze a credito", "Funeralino", "I giocatori", "Teresa", and "Il professore". The US version omits the third and the sixth, leaving the following: "The Racketeer", "Pizza on Credit", "The Gambler", and "Theresa". 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, $72,000. The film was voted one of the Ten Best Foreign Language Films of 1957 by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

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