''Lieutenant Giorgio'' (Italian: ''Il Tenente Giorgio'') is a 1952 Italian historical melodrama film directed by

Raffaello Matarazzo Raffaello Matarazzo (17 August 1909 – 17 May 1966) was an Italian filmmaker. Life Matarazzo started writing film reviews for the Roman newspaper ''Il Tevere'' before re-editing scripts for the Italian film company Cines. His first films w ...

and starring

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying eng ...

Milly Vitale Camilla "Milly" Vitale (16 July 1933 – 2 November 2006) was an Italian actress. She was the daughter of Riccardo Vitale (Rome Opera House Director, deceased 1979) and choreographer Natasha Shidlowski Vitale (deceased 1994). She appeared in n ...

and Paul Muller. Chiti & Poppi p.357 It was shot at the Ponti-De Laurentiis Studios in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and on location around

San Giovanni in Fiore San Giovanni in Fiore (; nap, label= Calabrian, Sangiuvanni ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The town originates from the Florense Abbey, built here by the Calabrian monk Joachim of ...

in Calabria. The film's sets were designed by the art director Piero Filippone.

Synopsis

In 1866 during the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in Calabria fighting bandits is brought to a castle. There it is arranged for him to spend the night with a young woman, whose identity is concealed from him. Unknown to him, she is the daughter of an aristocratic family whose husband has failed to get her pregnant. Years, later, having left the army, the officer returns to the area still intrigued by the mysterious woman.

Cast

as Lt. G. Biserta *

as Countess Elisa * Paul Muller as Count Stefano di Monserrato *

Gualtiero Tumiati Gualtiero Tumiati ( 8 May 1876 – 23 April 1971) was an Italian actor and stage director. Life and career Born in Ferrara, Tumiati studied at the College of the Oaks in Florence and there he attended the acting courses held by Luigi Rasi. He ...

as Stefano's Uncle *

Teresa Franchini Teresa Franchini (19 September 1877 – 11 August 1972) was an Italian stage and film actress. She was a leading lady of the theatre in her youth, appearing in the first Italian staging of Oscar Wilde's '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' in 1905. Beginni ...

as Amalia *

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969), was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

as Barone di Polia *

Achille Millo Achille Scognamillo, stage name Achille Millo (Naples, 25 October 1922 – Rome, 18 October 2006), was an Italian actor and stage director.Il Teatro Stabile del Friuli-Venezia Giulia: quarant’anni Paolo Quazzolo - 1995 Page 237 "Achille Millo ...

as Baroncino di Polia *

Ludmilla Dudarova Ludmilla Dudarova was a Turkish-born Romanian film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as fi ...

as Cousin of Elisa * Nino Pavese as Cafiero, il tutore *

Luigi Pavese Luigi Pavese (25 October 1897 – 13 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Asti, Pavese started his career in 1916 working as a silent film actor at 19 years of age. He then began his theatrical debut in 192 ...

as Cafiero *

Enzo Fiermonte Enzo Fiermonte (17 July 1908 – 22 March 1993), sometimes credited as William Bird, was an Italian actor and boxer. Early life Vincenzo "Enzo" Fiermonte was born on 17 July 1908 in Casamassima, a rural village near Bari, in southern Italy to Do ...

as Antonio Esposito * Rita Livesi as Marianna *

Michele Malaspina Michele Malaspina (16 August 1908 – 13 January 1979) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Bolzaneto, Genoa, the son of two shopkeepers, since childhood Malaspina has a passion for theater and was an actor in a co ...

as Doctor *

Enzo Biliotti Enzo Biliotti (28 June 1887 – 19 November 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1916 and 1958. He was born in Livorno, Italy and died in Bologna, Italy. Selected filmography * '' The Betrothed'' (1923) * '' Villafr ...

as Notaio Piovenda * Ada Colangeli as Evelina * Carlo Delle Piane as Postiglione

References

Bibliography

* Aprà, Adriano. ''The Fabulous Thirties: Italian cinema 1929-1944''. Electa International, 1979. * Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959''. Gremese Editore, 1991.

External links

*
''Il Tenente Giorgio''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...

1952 films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Raffaello Matarazzo Italian black-and-white films Italian historical drama films 1950s historical drama films Melodrama films 1950s Italian films Films set in Calabria Films shot in Calabria Films set in the 1860s {{1950s-Italy-film-stub