The Leopard (1963 film)

For the unrelated Hungarian film of the same name, see The Leopard (1918 film).

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo)
original film poster
Directed by	Luchino Visconti
Written by	Pasquale Festa Campanile Enrico Medioli Massimo Franciosa Luchino Visconti Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Produced by	Goffredo Lombardo Pietro Notarianni
Starring	Burt Lancaster Alain Delon Claudia Cardinale Serge Reggiani Mario Girotti Pierre Clementi
Cinematography	Giuseppe Rotunno
Edited by	Mario Serandrei
Music by	Nino Rota
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release dates	28 March 1963 (Italy) 15 July 1963 (U.S.)
Running time	161 Min (US Theatrical Release) 185 Min (US Uncut Version) 195 Min (French Version) 205 Min (Full Version)
Country	Italy
Languages	Italian German

The Leopard (Italian: Il Gattopardo) is a 1963 Italian film by director Luchino Visconti, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name.

Cast

• Burt Lancaster as Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
• Claudia Cardinale as Angelica Sedara / Bertiana
• Alain Delon as Tancredi Falconeri
• Paolo Stoppa as Don Calogero Sedara
• Rina Morelli as Princess Maria Stella Salina
• Romolo Valli as Father Pirrone
• Terence Hill as Count Cavriaghi (as Mario Girotti)
• Pierre Clémenti as Francesco Paolo
• Lucilla Morlacchi as Concetta
• Giuliano Gemma as Garibaldi's General
• Ida Galli as Carolina
• Ottavia Piccolo as Caterina
• Carlo Valenzano as Paolo
• Brook Fuller as Little Prince
• Anna Maria Bottini as Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess

Production

The film features an international cast including the American Burt Lancaster, the Frenchman Alain Delon and the Italians Claudia Cardinale and Terence Hill. It is generally seen today in the Italian language version, in which Lancaster's lines are dubbed into Italian by another actor; however, an English dubbed version was also produced at the time, in which Lancaster's own voice is heard. When Visconti was told by producers that they needed to cast a star in order to help to ensure that they'd earn enough money to justify the big budget, Visconti's first choice was one of the Soviet Union's preeminent actors, Nikolai Cherkasov. Learning that Cherkasov was in no condition, healthwise, to take the part, Visconti then set his hopes on getting Laurence Olivier, but he already had another commitment. The producers chose legendary Hollywood star Burt Lancaster without consulting Visconti, which insulted the great director and caused tension on the set; but the director and Hollywood star ended up working well together, and their resulting friendship lasted the rest of their lives.

Versions

The film has circulated in numerous versions. Visconti's first cut was 205 minutes long, but this was regarded as excessive; he cut it down to 185 minutes for the official release, and regarded this version as his preferred length. The version shown in the English speaking world was a 161-minute dubbed version edited by 20th Century Fox. A 151-minute version was released in Spain.

Awards

• 1963 Cannes Film Festival
  • Winner: Palme d'Or - Luchino Visconti
• Nastro d'Argento
  • Winner: Silver Ribbon - Luchino Visconti
  • Winner: Best Cinematography, Color (Migliore Fotografia a Colori) - Giuseppe Rotunno
  • Winner: Best Costume Design (Migliori Costumi) - Piero Tosi
  • Winner: Best Production Design (Migliore Scenografia) - Mario Garbuglia
• Academy Awards
  • Nominated: Best Costume Design, Color - Piero Tosi

Home media

There are several DVD editions available.

• Region 2 Medusa Home Entertainment (released in 2001) is an Italian disc offering an unrestored print and several interviews and featurettes.
• Region 2 BFI Video offers a restored print with a commentary by David Forgacs and Rossana Capitano
• Region 1 The Criterion Collection is a 3-disc set offering a restored print of the 185-minute version (English subtitles), with a commentary by Peter Cowie, several interviews, an hour-long documentary, and also includes the 161-minute English language dubbed version as an extra.

Preservation

The original Technirama camera negative for The Leopard survives and was used by the The Criterion Collection to create their video master for DVD and Blu-ray, with color timing supervised by the film's cinematographer, Giuseppe Rotunno. New preservation film elements were created using a 4K digital scan of the film, done with the cooperation of the Cineteca di Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata, The Film Foundation, Gucci, Pathé, Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Twentieth Century Fox, and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale. This restoration is scheduled to premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

External links

• The Leopard at IMDb
• The Leopard
  (Il Gattopardo) at AllMovie
• The Leopard (1963) - A review by Roger Ebert
• The Leopard at Rotten Tomatoes
• 1963 review in TIME magazine