Double Cross (1951 film)

Last updated

Double Cross
Double Cross (1951 film) 51.JPG
French film poster
Directed by Riccardo Freda
Screenplay by
Story byMario Monicelli [1]
Starring
Cinematography Enzo Serafin [1]
Edited by Otello Colangeli [1]
Music by Carlo Innocenzi [1]
Production
company
S.A.F.A. Palatino [1]
Distributed by Variety Distribution
Release date
  • 11 April 1951 (1951-04-11)(Italy)
Running time
94 minutes [1]
CountryItaly [1]

Double Cross (Italian : Il tradimento, also known as Treason and Passato che uccide) is a 1951 Italian crime-melodrama film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Vittorio Gassman and Gianna Maria Canale. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

The engineer Pietro Vanzelli is accused of killing Renato Salvi, his collaborator and suitor of his wife Clara who has always rejected him. During the trial no evidence arises in his defense and he is therefore convicted. After many years he gets out of jail and sets out in search of his family, he then learns that his wife had moved to Livorno with his daughter Luisa and on the train he accidentally runs into Renato who, when cornered, confesses to him the truth: after having stolen a lot of money from the company and after being rejected again by Clara he decided to disappear but at the same time blame Pietro for revenge. Renato also reveals to him that his wife is now dead while his daughter works as a governess for a wealthy family in Livorno, the Soldani. Luisa has formed a sincere bond with Stefano, the eldest of the children, but the family opposes this relationship and after having convinced her son to study in London they force Luisa to resign. The girl tries several times to find a job but without success, the pension owner reminds her that there are other ways to make money and that she should take advantage of them. One evening he meets Pietro who is chased from a bar where a fight had started and takes him to his room, the man suspects that the girl has acted for money and humiliates her but then speaking of the doll to which the girl is very attached he discovers in her the daughter believed lost. At this point everything seems to be going well, Pietro has found his daughter and the girl can also crown her dream of love with Stefano, since even the Soldani family has repented of how they acted. Unfortunately Renato reappears, he wants money so as not to bring back the old story and ruin Luisa's marriage, Pietro does not want to give in and is about to call the police when he is wounded with a knife by Renato, a fight ensues in which it is Renato himself to have the worst. Not knowing what to do, Pietro loads the body into the car and brings it back into the river, in the same spot where it was said he had been thrown years before but then, after having witnessed his daughter's wedding, he constitutes himself to the police. The trial is short, although he is condemned for the murder, he is recognized as legitimate defense and can return free alongside his beloved daughter.

Cast

Release

Double Cross was distributed theatircally in Italy by Variety on April 11, 1951. [1] The film grossed a total of 311,000,000 Italian lire domestically. [1] The film was released as Double Cross in the United States where it was dubbed in English, cut to a 77 minute running time, and directly to television. [1] [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>I Vampiri</i> 1957 film

I Vampiri is a 1957 Italian horror film. The film was directed by Riccardo Freda and completed by the film's cinematographer, Mario Bava. It stars Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D'Angelo and Dario Michaelis. The film is about a series of murders on young women who are found with their blood drained. The newspapers report on a killer known as the Vampire, which prompts young journalist Pierre Lantin to research the crimes. Lantin investigates the mysterious Du Grand family who lives in a castle occupied by Gisele Du Grand who is in love with Lantin. She lives with her aunt, who hides her face in a veil, as well as the scientist Julian Du Grand, who is trying to find the secret to eternal youth.

The Nastro d'Argento is a film award assigned each year, since 1946, by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics.

Amedeo Nazzari Italian actor

Amedeo Nazzari was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian-American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as a star during the Fascist era, Nazzari's popularity continued well into the post-war years.

<i>Revenge of Black Eagle</i> 1951 film

Revenge of Black Eagle is a 1951 Italian adventure film directed by Riccardo Freda. It is a sequel to Freda's 1946 film Black Eagle.

<i>Theodora, Slave Empress</i> 1954 film

Theodora, Slave Empress is a 1954 film about Theodora, a former slave who married Justinian I, emperor of Byzantium in AD 527–565. It was directed by Riccardo Freda.

<i>The Mysterious Rider</i> (1948 film) 1948 Italian historical-adventure film by Riccardo Freda

The Mysterious Rider is a 1948 Italian historical-adventure film directed by Riccardo Freda.

<i>The Wolf of the Sila</i> 1949 Italian film

The Wolf of the Sila is a 1949 Italian drama film directed by Duilio Coletti and starring Silvana Mangano, Amedeo Nazzari and Vittorio Gassman. Much of the film was shot on location around La Sila in Calabria.

<i>The Gay Swordsman</i> 1950 film

The Gay Swordsman is a 1950 Italian historical adventure film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Carlo Ninchi, Gianna Maria Canale and Franca Marzi.

<i>Guarany</i> (film) 1950 film

Guarany is a 1950 Italian film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Antonio Vilar, Mariella Lotti and Gianna Maria Canale.

Caravaggio, il pittore maledetto is a 1941 Italian historical drama film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Clara Calamai and Lamberto Picasso. Nazzari portrays the painter Caravaggio as a wayward genius. It was one of his favourite screen roles.

<i>See Naples and Die</i> 1952 film

See Naples and Die is a 1952 Italian melodrama film directed by Riccardo Freda.

<i>Sins of Rome</i> 1953 film

Sins of Rome is a 1953 historical drama film directed by Riccardo Freda and loosely based on the life story of Spartacus. The rights of film's negatives and copies were bought by the producers of Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film Spartacus, as to prevent eventual new releases of the film that could have damaged the commercial outcome of Kubrick’s film; this resulted in Sins of Rome's withdrawal from market for about thirty years.

<i>The Bandit of Tacca Del Lupo</i> 1954 film

The Bandit of Tacca Del Lupo is a 1952 Italian historical drama film directed by Pietro Germi.

<i>Torna!</i> 1954 film

Torna! is a 1953 Italian melodrama film directed by Raffaello Matarazzo and starring Amedeo Nazzari and Yvonne Sanson.

<i>The Intruder</i> (1956 film) 1956 film

The Intruder is a 1956 Italian melodrama film written and directed by Raffaello Matarazzo and starring Amedeo Nazzari and Lea Padovani. It is loosely based on the stage drama La moglie del dottore by Silvio Zambaldi.

<i>The Iron Swordsman</i> 1949 film

The Iron Swordsman is a 1949 Italian historical drama film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Carlo Ninchi and Gianna Maria Canale. It is loosely based on real life events of Ugolino della Gherardesca.

<i>Serenata a Maria</i> 1957 film

Serenata a Maria is a 1957 Italian musical melodrama film co-written and directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Maria Fiore and Sergio Bruni.

<i>Kean: Genius or Scoundrel</i> 1956 film by Vittorio Gassman, Francesco Rosi

Kean: Genius or Scoundrel is a 1956 Italian historical biographical film co-written, directed by and starring Vittorio Gassman. It also features Eleonora Rossi Drago, Gérard Landry and Valentina Cortese A dramatization of the life of nineteenth century actor Edmund Kean, it is based on the drama play Kean (1836) by Alexandre Dumas and its 1953 adaptation with the same name by Jean-Paul Sartre. It was Gassman's first film as director. It was screened at the Locarno Film Festival in 1957.

<i>The Last Dance</i> (1941 film) 1941 film

The Last Dance is a 1941 Italian comedy film directed by Camillo Mastrocinque and starring Elsa Merlini, Amedeo Nazzari and Renato Cialente. It is considered to be in the tradition of White Telephone films, popular during the Fascist era. It is based on a play by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Herczeg and features Merlini in a dual role as mother and daughter.

<i>Tomb of the Angels</i> 1937 film

Tomb of the Angels is a 1937 Italian drama film directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Luisa Ferida, and Antonio Gradoli. Roberto Rossellini co-wrote the screenplay and served as assistant director. It was shot on location in the Apuan Alps in Liguria, and is set amidst the marble quarries of the area. It marked an early attempt at realism in Italian cinema, anticipating neorealism of the postwar era. It is similar in style to Walter Ruttmann's Steel of 1933, in it celebrated Italy's industrial strength in line with the propaganda of the Mussolini regime.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Curti 2017, p. 308.
  2. ↑ Chiti, Roberto; Poppi, Roberto; Lancia, Enrico (1991). Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film (in Italian). Vol. 2: Dal 1945 al 1959. Rome: Gremese. ISBN   978-88-7605-548-5.
  3. ↑ Mereghetti, Paolo; Pezzotta, Alberto (2010). Il Mereghetti: Dizionario dei film 2011 (in Italian). Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai. ISBN   978-88-6073-626-0.
  4. ↑ Curti 2017, p. 87.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.