George Orson Welles was an American film director, actor, writer, and producer who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone, known professionally as Sophia Loren, is an Italian actress. 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 major stars from the era. Loren is also the only remaining living person to appear on AFI's list of the 50 greatest stars of American film history, positioned 21st.
Luigia "Gina" LollobrigidaOMRI was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, artist and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. Dubbed "the most beautiful woman in the world", at the time of her death she was among the last surviving high-profile international actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
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.
Oja Kodar is a Croatian actress, screenwriter and director known as Orson Welles's romantic partner during the later years of his life.
Mr. Arkadin, known in Britain as Confidential Report, is a French-Spanish-Swiss coproduction film, written and directed by Orson Welles and shot in several Spanish locations, including Costa Brava, Segovia, Valladolid, and Madrid. Filming took place throughout Europe in 1954, and scenes shot outside Spain include locations in London, Munich, Paris, the French Riviera, and at the Château de Chillon in Switzerland.
My Voyage to Italy is a personal documentary by acclaimed Italian-American director Martin Scorsese. The film is a voyage through Italian cinema history, marking influential films for Scorsese and particularly covering the Italian neorealism period.
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.
Bread, Love and Dreams is a 1953 Italian romantic comedy film directed by Luigi Comencini. At the 4th Berlin International Film Festival it won the Silver Bear award. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978".
Luigi Comencini was an Italian film director. Together with Dino Risi, Ettore Scola and Mario Monicelli, he was considered among the masters of the "commedia all'italiana" genre.
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.
The Lady Without Camelias is a 1953 French–Italian drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Lucia Bosé, Gino Cervi, and Andrea Checchi. Based on a story by Antonioni, the film is about a newly discovered starlet and her experiences in the film business.
Anna of Brooklyn is a 1958 French-Italian comedy film directed by Vittorio De Sica and Carlo Lastricati and starring Gina Lollobrigida, De Sica and Amedeo Nazzari.
Maria Grazia Buccella is an Italian actress, glamour model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Italia 1959 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1959.
The Fountain of Youth is a 1956 television pilot directed by Orson Welles for a proposed Desilu Productions anthology series that was never produced. Based on a short story by John Collier, the short film narrated onscreen by Welles stars Dan Tobin, Joi Lansing and Rick Jason. The Fountain of Youth was televised once, on September 16, 1958, on NBC's Colgate Theatre. It received the prestigious Peabody Award for 1958, the only unsold television pilot ever to be so honored.
In Olden Days is a 1952 Italian comedy drama anthology film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and featuring an ensemble cast that included Gina Lollobrigida, Amedeo Nazzari, Vittorio De Sica, Elisa Cegani, Barbara Florian, Aldo Fabrizi, Andrea Checchi and Alba Arnova. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Dario Cecchi and Veniero Colasanti. It is also known as Times Gone By and Infidelity.
Nella terra di Don Chisciotte is an Italian-language documentary travelogue series about Spain, made by Orson Welles. It began filming in 1961, but did not air until 1964. The series follows Welles' travels around Spain, and was narrated by Arnoldo Foà. The series was made for Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI-TV). Co-starring with Welles were his Italian wife Paola Mori, and their young daughter Beatrice Welles.
Paola di Gerfalco, Contessa di Gerfalco, better known by her professional name Paola Mori, was an Italian actress and aristocrat, and the third and last wife of Orson Welles.
Beatrice Giuditta Welles is an American former child actress, known for her roles in the film Chimes at Midnight (1966) and the documentary travelogue In the Land of Don Quixote (1964). The daughter of American filmmaker Orson Welles and Italian actress Paola Mori, she is a former model, radio and TV personality, founder of a cosmetics line and designer of handbags and jewelry.
Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company.
