''Roaring Years'' ( it, Gli anni ruggenti) is a

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

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 ol ...

directed by

Luigi Zampa Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome. He directed several ...

, set in the 1930s during the Fascist period of Benito Mussolini. It stars

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian a ...

and

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 ...

, and was inspired by the satirical comedy "

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pl ...

” by Nikolai Gogol. It won Best Feature at the 1962

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, ...

Plot summary

The film portrays the corrupt administration of an Apulia town during the

Fascist Regime Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

of 1937, after it has learned, in a roundabout way, of a pending anonymous visit of a government inspector from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The inspector will determine if the administration adhered to the government's strict guidelines for economic and social planning. The threat of the inspection creates terror in the administrators, who fear their misdeeds will be revealed. Most fearful are those guilty of enriching themselves from public funds, and other abuses. They resort to pathetic staged measures to make it appear that they remained "honest administrators" and "good fascists". An unsuspecting insurer also coming from Rome, Omero Battifiori, arrives in town for his work and he is mistaken for the inspector. He is made the object of every honour and, of course, he is utterly deceived. Eventually, the real inspector arrives.

Location

The movie was shot entirely in

Ostuni Ostuni ( nap, label= Barese, Ostune; scn, label=Salentino, Stune) is a city and '' comune'', located about 8 km from the coast, in the province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The town has a population of about 32,000 during the win ...

and

Alberobello Alberobello (; literally "beautiful tree"; Barese: ) is a small town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has 10,735 inhabitants and is famous for its unique '' trullo'' buildings. The ''trulli'' of Alberob ...

Cast

as Omero Battifiori *

as Salvatore Acquamano *

Michèle Mercier Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Monic ...

as Elvira Acquamano *

Gastone Moschin Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Career Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began ...

as Carmine Passante *

Salvo Randone Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little w ...

as the Anti-fascist doctor De Vincenzi *

Angela Luce Angela Luce (born 3 December 1938) is an Italian film actress and singer of Neapolitan song. She has appeared in 80 films since 1958. She was born in Naples, Italy. Partial filmography * ''La sposa'' (1958) - Margherita * ''Avventura a Capri'' ...

as Rosa De Bellis *

Rosalia Maggio Rosalia Maggio (1 May 1921 – 25 July 1995) was an Italian actress, dancer, singer and showgirl. Biography Born in Palermo, she was the daughter of two comedian actors and sister of actors Enzo, Dante, Beniamino and Pupella Maggio. She deb ...

as Nunzia Acquamano *

Linda Sini Linda Sini (13 February 1924 – 5 February 1999) was an Italian film actress. She made 75 appearances between 1950 and 1979 and several appearances after this, mostly in film. Debuting in '' Sigillo rosso'' in 1950, she went on to star in ...

* Carla Calò * Annetta Esposito * Gino Brillante * Giuseppe Ianigro as Nicola De Bellis * Gaetano Morino * Enzo Petito * Mara Maiello * Ruggero Pignotti * Massimo Marchetti * Lino Crispo *

Mario Passante is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

* Nunzia Fumo * Totò Ponti *

Giulio Marchetti Giulio Marchetti (9 June 1911 – 1 December 1993) was an Italian stage, film and television actor and presenter. Life and career Born in Barcelona, Marchetti was the grandson of the operetta actor and comedian Giulio and the son of the theatr ...

* Livia Grazioli *

Fanfulla Luigi Visconti, better known by his stage name Fanfulla, (26 February 1913 – 5 January 1971) was an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born in Rome, Visconti debuted at very young age on stage alongside his mother, the actress Merc ...

* Alfredo Rizzo

External links

* 1962 films Commedia all'italiana 1962 comedy films Italian black-and-white films Films set in 1937 1960s Italian-language films Films set in Italy Films directed by Luigi Zampa Films set in Apulia Films shot in Matera Films about fascists Films with screenplays by Ruggero Maccari Films based on The Government Inspector 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-comedy-film-stub