Last Days of Mussolini | |
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Directed by | Carlo Lizzani |
Written by | Carlo Lizzani Fabio Pittorru |
Produced by | Enzo Peri |
Starring | Rod Steiger Franco Nero Henry Fonda |
Cinematography | Roberto Gerardi |
Edited by | Franco Fraticelli |
Music by | Ennio Morricone |
Release date |
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Running time | 135 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Languages | Italian German |
Last Days of Mussolini (Italian: Mussolini: Ultimo atto) is a 1974 Italian historical drama film co-written and directed by Carlo Lizzani and starring Rod Steiger, Franco Nero and Lisa Gastoni. The film depicts the days leading up to the death of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, when he attempted to flee Milan in April 1945 at the end of World War II in Europe. [1]
In 1945, Benito Mussolini goes to Milan to talk with Archbishop Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster to request his help in escaping from Italy. The Republic of Salò, the last bastion of fascism, is decaying, and the Americans, along with the partisans are about to win control of Milan. Mussolini flees, pursued by his lover Claretta Petacci, and manages to get to the northern village of Dongo. There he clashes with the Germans, who order him to disguise himself as an officer of Germany rather than be captured by the partisans. Mussolini accepts without objection, always hoping for a revolt of his loyal fascists, but they are in jeopardy. When Mussolini is recognised, Walter Audisio, the leader of the partisans, initially wants to hand him over to the Americans, so that Mussolini undergoes due process. But the war crimes of the Duce are too great, so Audisio makes the decision to shoot him in front of the Villa Belmonte in the village of Giulino, along with his female companion.
Clara "Claretta" Petacci was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed by Italian partisans during Mussolini's summary execution.
Luigi Longo, also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and general secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin.
The Italian Resistance consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy from 1943 to 1945. As a diverse anti-fascist and anti-nazist movement and organisation, the Resistenza opposed Nazi Germany and its Fascist puppet state regime, the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans created following the Nazi German invasion and military occupation of Italy by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS from 8 September 1943 until 25 April 1945.
Rachele Guidi, also known as Donna Rachele and incorrectly as Rachele Mussolini in the English-speaking world, was the second wife of Prime Minister of Italy and fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
Giulino is an Italian frazione of the Comune of Mezzegra, in the province of Como. Since 21 January 2014, both Giulino and Mezzegra are included in the comune of Tremezzina.
Mezzegra is a former comune (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy. Since 21 January 2014 it is part of the comune of Tremezzina.
The Italian Civil War was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during the Italian campaign of World War II between Italian fascists and Italian partisans and, to a lesser extent, the Italian Co-belligerent Army.
Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, was an Italian Catholic prelate and professed member of the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his death. He took the religious name of Ildefonso as a Benedictine monk and served as an abbot prior to his elevation to the cardinalate.
Walter Audisio was an Italian partisan and communist politician, also known by his nom-de-guerreColonel Valerio. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, Audisio was involved in the death of Benito Mussolini, and personally executed the dictator and his mistress Clara Petacci according to the generally accepted account of the event.
Mussolini and I is a 1985 made-for-television docudrama film directed by Alberto Negrin. It chronicles the strained relationship between Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and his son-in-law and foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, based on Ciano's diaries. Made in English as an Italian-French-German-Swiss-Spanish-US co-production, with Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins and Susan Sarandon in the leading roles, it first aired on Rai Uno on 15 April 1985 in a 130-minute version. On 8 September 1985, it premiered in the USA on HBO in an extended four-hour version.
Valentino Petrelli, better known as Tino, was an Italian photographer, well known for his documentary photography. He covered Italy under fascist rule, the war and reconstruction, as well as the economic boom in the 1960s and the social conflicts in the 1970s.
Piazzale Loreto is a major city square in Milan, Italy.
Mussolini: The Untold Story is a television biographical miniseries drama that aired on November 24–26, 1985. The series followed the rise, rule, and downfall of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Giuseppina Tuissi, better known as Gianna was an Italian communist and partisan during World War II. She was part of the 52nd Brigata Garibaldi "Luigi Clerici". From September 1944, she was a collaborator of the partisan Luigi Canali and, with him, had an important role in the arrest and the execution of Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci.
Benito Mussolini, the deposed Italian fascist dictator, was summarily executed by an Italian partisan in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra in northern Italy on 28 April 1945, in the final days of World War II in Europe. The generally accepted version of events is that Mussolini was shot by Walter Audisio, a communist partisan. However, since the end of the war, the circumstances of Mussolini's death, and the identity of his executioner, have been subjects of continuing dispute and controversy in Italy.
"The Killers of Mussolini" is an American television play broadcast live on June 4, 1959, as part of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. It was the 35th episode of the third season. The cast includes Nehemiah Persoff as Benito Mussolini and Harry Guardino as an Italian partisan leader.
Marcello Cesare Augusto Petacci was an Italian surgeon and businessman, the brother of actress Maria Petacci and of dictator Benito Mussolini's lover Clara Petacci.
Francesco Maria Barracu was an Italian Fascist politician and soldier who was the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to his execution in 1945.
Piazzale Loreto massacre was a Nazi-Fascist massacre that took place in Italy, on 10 August 1944 in Piazzale Loreto, Milan, during the World War II.
Michele Bruno Moretti, also known by his nom-de-guerrePietro Gatti, was an Italian partisan, trade unionist and footballer.