Vittorio Gassman, popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone, 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 was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest stars of classical Hollywood cinema, and is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Two Women is a 1960 war drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica from a screenplay he co-wrote with Cesare Zavattini, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia. The film stars Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown and Raf Vallone. It tells the story of a woman trying to protect her young daughter from the horrors of war. The story is fictional, but based on actual events of 1944 in Rome and rural Lazio, during the Marocchinate.
Silvana Mangano 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 1950s and '60s. She won the David di Donatello for Best Actress three times – for The Verona Trial (1963), The Witches (1967), and The Scientific Cardplayer (1973) – and the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress twice.
Attila is a 1954 Italian-French co-production, directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti for Lux Film. Based on the life of Attila the Hun, it stars Anthony Quinn as Attila and Sophia Loren as Honoria, with French leading man Henri Vidal as the Hun's antagonist, Flavius Aetius. Irene Papas, in the second of three contract pictures for Lux Film, plays one of Attila's wives, Grune. Ettore Manni, Christian Marquand, and Claude Laydu are among the supporting cast of mostly French and Italian actors. American actor Scott Marlowe made his screen debut in the film. Along with The Pride and the Passion and Houseboat, it was one of Loren's biggest box-office successes during the 1950s.
Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.
The Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress is one of the Nastro d'Argento awards. This is a film award assigned each year since 1946, by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics.
Commedia all'italiana, or Italian-style comedy, is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street in 1958, and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style (1961). According to most of the critics, La Terrazza (1980) by Ettore Scola is the last work considered part of the commedia all'italiana.
Anna is a 1951 Italian melodrama film directed by Alberto Lattuada and starring the same trio as Bitter Rice: Silvana Mangano as Anna, the sinner who becomes a nun, Raf Vallone as Andrea, the rich man who loves her, and Vittorio Gassman as Vittorio, the wicked waiter who sets Anna on a dangerous path.
Silvana Pampanini was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the well-known soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation when she took part in the 1946 Miss Italia contest and the following year she started her movie career. Madame Pampanini was born into a well-off family, she was educated, and studied opera and ballet since her childhood. According to interviews, Pampanini was a contralto with notable voice extension. However, she also said many times over the years that she preferred to pursue a career in cinema as it required less training and it was much less demanding than a career as an opera singer.
Two Nights with Cleopatra is a 1954 Italian historical comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Sophia Loren.
Ettore Manni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1979.
I'm the Capataz is a 1951 Italian western-comedy film directed by Giorgio Simonelli, and starring Renato Rascel, Silvana Pampanini and Marilyn Buferd.
It's Him!... Yes! Yes! is a 1951 Italian comedy film directed by Marino Girolami, Marcello Marchesi and Vittorio Metz. Sophia Loren was an extra in the film and appeared in the film under the name Sofia Lazzaro.
The Dream of Zorro is a 1952 Italian comedy adventure film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Walter Chiari, Delia Scala and Vittorio Gassman. The future star Sophia Loren had a minor role in the film.
A Day in Court is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Steno and starring Peppino De Filippo, Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren, and Alberto Sordi. The film is an anthology, consisting of a day's cases before Judge Salomone Lo Russo in a court in Rome.
Se permettete parliamo di donne is a 1964 Italian comedy film. It represents the directorial debut of Ettore Scola. The film consists of nine segments, all played by Vittorio Gassman.
Legions of the Nile is an Eastmancolor 1959 Italian-French-Spanish historical epic adventure film written and directed by Vittorio Cottafavi.
A Woman Alone is a 1956 Italian drama film directed by Vittorio Sala and Ottavio Alessi assistant director, and starring Eleonora Rossi Drago, Luciana Angiolillo and Ettore Manni.
Lydia Simoneschi was an Italian actress and voice actress. During her career, she gave her voice to actresses mainly during the Golden Ages.
