''Tutta la città canta'' () is a 1945 Italian

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror film, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing ''I Vampiri'' in 1956. The f ...

Cast

Production

Pre-production

''Tutta la città canta'' was director

's third film as a director. It was influenced by Hollywood films with the idea of putting a "revue" film on which featured the period's major singers and film stars, similar to '' The Hollywood Revue of 1929''. People in the film included Nino Taranto, a Neapolitan stage and radio comedian, Natalino Otto, a jazz singer, and singer and actress

Vivi Gioi Vivi Gioi (born Vivienne Trumpy; 2 January 1917 – 12 July 1975) was an Italian actress. Her alternative professional last name Diesca was an anagram of De Sica, the famous actor and director with whom she was in love. She is remembered for '' ...

, and the three Bono brothers: Gianni, Vittorio and Luigi, who were comedians somewhat similar to the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

. During the script writing period, Freda met the then cartoonist

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

who was 23 years old at the time. According to Freda, Fellini was introduced to him by

Vittorio Metz Vittorio Metz (18 July 1904 – 1 March 1984) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for more than 110 films between 1939 and 1977. Selected filmography * '' Defendant, Stand Up!'' (1939) * '' Lo vedi come sei... lo vedi c ...

and took part in the screenwriting process. Freda described Fellini's contributions as being "scribbling on sheet after sheet of paper with a pen. Those were neither suggestions nor notes; Federico just kept drawing, and he drew huge naked women, real giantesses, I think paroxysmally fat women were one of his hidden obsessions. Then, probably rightly so, he disappeared." Recording music for the film had to be done discreetly, as by 1938 in Italy, jazz was labeled as "Negroid music" and banished from the radio, and American music was forbidden by 1940. When performing songs such as "Louisiana blues", guards were placed outside the recording studio to make sure Blackshirts would not catch them.

Filming

Shooting on the film began in 1943 at Pisorno studios in Tirrenia under the title ''6 x 8 / 48'', based on one of the musical numbers in the film. Within a few weeks, filming was cancelled due to the escalation of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Italy. Production on the film only began again in 1945. Much of the cast was unavailable at the time, and the Vivi Gioi had gained a significant amount of weight. Freda chose to simply replace actors with doubles and used quick cutting to hide any differences in actors' appearance.

Release

The film's title was changed to ''Tutta la città canta'', a title that echoes the film '' The Whole Town's Talking''. It was distributed in Italy by Effebi and was released on 15 August 1945. The film had little success in Italy, as jazz music was no longer a hot topic as it had become legal once again. Freda spoke negatively about the film, stating that it was "a terrible turnip of a film" and that "the attempt at jazz was amusing. It was a spaghetti musical''". The film was restored by the Cineteca of Milan and shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival in 2010.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tutta la città canta 1945 films 1945 musical comedy films Italian musical comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Riccardo Freda 1940s Italian films Italian-language musical comedy films