''Amore e chiacchiere'', internationally released as ''Love and Chatter'', is a

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Quattro passi fra le nuvole''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during ...

. It is based on a

Cesare Zavattini Cesare Zavattini (20 September 1902 – 13 October 1989) was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Biography Born in Luzzara near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, ...

's play with the same title. For this film

Carla Gravina Carla Gravina (born 5 August 1941) is an Italian actress and politician. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her role in '' La terrazza'' (1980). Her other notable roles were in '' Love and Chatter'' (1957), ''Esterina ...

was awarded best actress at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

.S. Masi, E. Lancia, "Carla Gravina", in ''Stelle d'Italia. Piccole e grandi dive del cinema italiano 1945-1968'', Roma 1989, pp. 82-84.

Plot

A commendatore owns a splendid villa, which stands in a seaside resort facing a picturesque inlet. The view that can be enjoyed from the villa is however threatened by the presence of an asylum for old people, which the war has partly destroyed, and which is now being rebuilt. The commendatore has high-ranking acquaintances and could prevent the project, but the deputy mayor supports popular demands. A lawyer, who is also a municipal councilor acting as mayor, has the defect of considering himself a skilled speaker, and from this the commendatore tries to profit by offering him to give the inauguration speech of the villa in the presence of many authorities and television. However, he sets a condition: the lawyer will get the job, if he declares in public that he wants to prevent the disfigurement of the landscape. The deputy mayor is willing to accept, also because in the meantime his democratic ideas have suffered a severe blow with the escape from the house of his son, who got engaged to the daughter of the municipal sweeper. This engagement was initially forbidden by the girl's father himself, with rude ways that also included repeated slaps to his own daughter. When the same garbage man, through misunderstandings, comes to talk with the mayor about the engagement between the two young people, the mayor, Vittorio de Sica, indisputably prohibits this possibility, first making a picture of the time necessary for the boys to grow, arriving at the Landing on the Moon, which foresees for 1970, then with the threat of immediate dismissal of the garbage man himself. Meanwhile, the old people, tired of waiting, begin the construction of the kindergarten. At this point the lawyer makes a solemn promise in front of the cameras, and then gives the son permission to marry. The two young men, after a suicide attempt, are stopped by a policeman and taken home; the commendatore must thus accept the fait accompli.

Cast

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the Italian neorealism, neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Shoeshine (film), Sciuscià ...

: Lawyer Bonelli *

Gino Cervi Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules ...

: Paseroni *

: Maria Furlani *

Geronimo Meynier Geronimo Meynier (5 July 1941 – 23 January 2021) was an Italian film actor who starred in Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. He debuted in ''Amici per la pelle'' in 1955 at age 14. His last film was in 1968. The Italian actor Geronimo Meyn ...

: Paolo Bonelli *

Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * ''Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * ''The Countess ...

: Miss Bonelli *

Alessandra Panaro Alessandra Panaro (14 December 1939 – 1 May 2019) was an Italian film actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Panaro is best known for her films in the early 1960s, notably Luchino Visconti's crime drama '' Rocco e i suoi fratelli'' in 196 ...

: Doddy Paseroni *

Isa Pola Isa Pola (19 December 1909 – 17 December 1984) was an Italian stage and film actress. Born Maria Luisa Betti di Montesano, she appeared in more than 30 films during her career. An early screen role was the female lead in ''Steel'' (1933), a ...

: Miss Paseroni * Nicolas Perchicot: Ernesto Borghi *

Mario Meniconi is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the '' Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his c ...

: Furlani * Felix Fernandez: Salviati *

Renato Malavasi Renato Malavasi (8 August 1904 – 7 October 1998) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 135 films between 1921 and 1985. Selected filmography * '' The Golden Vein'' (1928) * '' The Song of Love'' (1930) * '' Lowered Sails'' (1931) * ' ...

: Ripandelli

References

External links

* 1957 films Italian comedy films 1957 comedy films Films directed by Alessandro Blasetti Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini Films scored by Mario Nascimbene 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub