A Day in Court
A Day in Court | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Steno |
Written by | Sandro Continenza Lucio Fulci Steno |
Produced by | Gianni Hecht Lucari Dino De Laurentiis Carlo Ponti[1] |
Starring | Peppino De Filippo Silvana Pampanini Alberto Sordi Sophia Loren |
Cinematography | Marco Scarpelli |
Edited by | Giuliana Attenni |
Music by | Armando Trovajoli |
Production companies | Documento Film Excelsa Film |
Distributed by | Minerva Film |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
A Day in Court (Italian: Un giorno in pretura) is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Steno and starring Peppino De Filippo, Silvana Pampanini, and Alberto Sordi. Lucio Fulci and Paolo Heusch were assistant directors. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[2] It took in around 473 million lire at the Italian box office.[3] A young Lucio Fulci originated the idea and format for this film, and then helped to write the screenplay and assist Steno in directing it, making it the largest screen credit in his career up to this point.[4]
Critics said the film was carried by the versatile acting of Peppino De Filippo, who was convinced to become a comedian by the Italian actor Totò. Alberto Sordi's character of Nando Moriconi became so popular, he reprised the role in several later Italian comedies, such as An American in Rome (1954), without ever sharing the credit with Fulci. Fulci always took credit for creating the Nando Moriconi character, although Alberto Sordi said it was his portrayal of the character that made it so popular. Fulci said that in post production, producer Carlo Ponti almost cut the segment out for time constraints, but Ponti's wife Silvana Mangano made him leave it in. The film made a fortune as a result, according to Fulci, and helped launch Sordi's comedy career.[5]
Plot
The film is an anthology composed of four separate court cases all being heard by Magistrate Lorusso in his courtroom in Rome. The four stories all involve bawdy incidents, with titillating chapter titles such as The Priest and the Prostitute", "The Lustful Lieutenant" etc.
A woman named Elena brings charges against her own husband, but gets humiliated when he produces pornographic films which he took of her without her knowledge. A priest named Don Michele claims to have been assaulted by a prostitute he patronized and beaten up by her pimp, foreshadowing Fulci's later ambivalant views of the Catholic Church. A crude bully named Moriconi is accused of public nudity after his clothes are stolen by kids at a local swimming hole, and in the fourth segment, an accused prostitute reveals she has had a lascivious relationship with the Magistrate himself, exposing the judge as a hypocrite.
Cast
- Peppino De Filippo as Judge Salomone Lorusso
- Silvana Pampanini as Luisa
- Alberto Sordi as Nando Moriconi
- Sophia Loren as Anna
- Tania Weber as Elena
- Leopoldo Trieste as Leopoldo
- Walter Chiari as Don Michele
- Armenia Balducci as The fiancée
- Virgilio Riento as Virgilio
- Giulio Calì as Augusto Mencacci
- Turi Pandolfini as Il cancelliere
- Vincenzo Talarico as Avvocato difensore
- Ubaldo Lay as Il fidanzato di Anna
- Amalia Pellegrini as Vecchia signora
- Cesare Bettarini as Avv. Tonnara
- Maurizio Arena as Lorenzo
References
- ^ Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.
- ^ "Italian Comedy - The State of Things". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ Chiti & Poppi p.172
- ^ Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.
- ^ Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.
Bibliography
- Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959. Gremese Editore, 1991.