''The Shortest Day'' ( it, Il giorno più corto) is a
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
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 ...
. It is a parody of the war movie '' The Longest Day'' and stars the popular duo
Franco and Ciccio
Franco () and Ciccio () were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theater field, and end ...
in the leading roles. Dozens of other well-known actors, from both European and American cinema, agreed to appear in the movie in cameo roles for free to avert the bankruptcy of the production company, Titanus.
Plot
Two Sicilians, Franco and Ciccio, are taken from a small town in
and shipped out with a unit in the Italian army which has to fight the
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
troops in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. Upon war's end, Franco and Ciccio, more clumsy than ever, return to Italy but find themselves out of work.
Cast
*
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 ...
*
Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
*
Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo (; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and '' Napoli Milionaria''. Consid ...
*
Peppino De Filippo
Peppino De Filippo (born Giuseppe De Filippo; 24 August 1903 – 27 January 1980) was an Italian actor.
De Filippo was born in Naples, brother of actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and of Titina De Filippo. He made his stage debut at ...
*
Aldo Fabrizi
Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's '' Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò i ...
*
Gabriele Ferzetti
Gabriele Ferzetti (born Pasquale Ferzetti; 17 March 1925 – 2 December 2015) was an Italian actor with more than 160 credits across film, television, and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s.
Ferzetti's first leading role ...
Tomas Milian
Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...
*
Romolo Valli
Romolo Valli (7 February 1925 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian actor.
Valli was born in Reggio Emilia. He was one of the best known Italian actors from the 1950s to his death. He worked for both the stage and the silver screen. Among the ...
*
Renato Salvatori
Renato Salvatori (20 March 1933 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actor.
Born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca, Salvatori began his career in his teens playing juvenile, romantic roles. After working with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Ro ...
*
Paolo Stoppa
Paolo Stoppa Knight Grand Cross (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932. As a stage actor, his most celebrated ...
*
Walter Chiari
Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.
Biography
Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
Anouk Aimée
Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus (born 27 April 1932), known professionally as Anouk Aimée () or Anouk, is a French film actress, who has appeared in 70 films since 1947, having begun her film career at age 14. In her early years, she studi ...
Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma (2 September 1938 – 1 October 2013) was an Italian actor. He is best known internationally for his work in Spaghetti Westerns, particularly for his performances as the title character in Duccio Tessari's ''A Pistol for Ringo'' (1 ...
*
Massimo Girotti
Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades.
Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying eng ...
*
Mario Girotti
Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
*
Franco Fabrizi
Franco Fabrizi (; 15 February 1916 – 18 October 1995) was an Italian actor.
Life and career
Son of a barber and a cinema cashier, Franco Fabrizi started his career as a model and an actor in fotoromanzi. Fabrizi also starred on several revu ...
*
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
*
Erminio Macario
Erminio Macario (27 May 1902 – 25 March 1980), best known as Macario, was an Italian film actor and comedian. He appeared in 42 films between 1933 and 1975.
Life and career
Born in Turin, Macario made his debut at a young age in the amat ...
*
Tiberio Murgia
Tiberio Murgia (5 February 1929 – 20 August 2010) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1958 and 2009.
Biography
Born into a humble family, Murgia began working as a laborer from an early age. At the age of ...
*
Raimondo Vianello
Raimondo Vianello (7 May 1922 – 15 April 2010) was an Italian film actor, comedian, and television host. He was a well-known Italian television personality.
Biography
He was born in Rome, but spent his youth in Pula, where his father, an ...
*
Memmo Carotenuto
Memmo Carotenuto (23 August 1908 – 23 December 1980) was an Italian actor. He appeared in 125 films between 1941 and 1980.
Selected filmography
*'' The Wedding Trip'' (1969)
* ''Assassination in Rome'' (1965)
* '' Male Companion'' (1964 ...
*
Nino Castelnuovo
Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021) was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (1964).
Castelnu ...
*
Luciano Salce
Luciano Salce (25 September 1922 – 17 December 1989) was an Italian film director, comedian, tv host, producer, actor and lyricist. His 1962 film ''Le pillole di Ercole'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Ven ...
*
Nino Taranto
Nino Taranto (28 August 1907 – 23 February 1986) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1924 and 1971.
Life and career
Born in Naples, Taranto started his career as a child actor in 1918 starring in some loca ...
*
Aroldo Tieri
Aroldo Tieri (28 August 1917 – 28 December 2006) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1939 and 1969.
Life and career
Born in Corigliano Calabro, son of the journalist and playwright Vincenzo Tieri, Aroldo Tier ...
Valentina Cortese
Valentina Cortese (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in François Truffaut's ''Day for Night'' (1973).
Personal life
Cortese was born ...
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Lorella De Luca
Lorella De Luca (17 September 1940 – 9 January 2014) was an Italian film, television, and voice actress. One of the most recognized ingenues of Italian cinema during the mid-to-late 1950s, she is best known for having played naive young girls ...
*
Sandra Mondaini
Alessandrina "Sandra" Mondaini (; 1 September 1931 – 21 September 2010) was an Italian actress, singer, and television and radio presenter. She appeared in 30 films between 1953 and 2008.
Born in Milan, Italy, she married actor Raimondo ...
*
Ilaria Occhini
Ilaria Occhini (28 March 1934 – 20 July 2019) was an Italian stage, television and film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films.Antonio Acqua
*
Ivo Garrani
Ivo Garrani (6 February 1924 – 25 March 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's '' Black Sunday'' (1960).
Biography
Born in Introdacqua, ...
*
Sergio Fantoni
Sergio Fantoni (7 August 1930 – 17 April 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor and director.
Biography
Fantoni was born in Rome to the actor Cesare Fantoni. He began his career appearing in films, radio dramas, television and theatrical pro ...
Fiorenzo Fiorentini
Fiorenzo Fiorentini (10 April 1920 – 27 March 2003) was an Italian actor, author, composer, screenwriter and radio personality.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Fiorentini began his career as an author and radio actor, creating many successful ...
*
Paolo Panelli
Paolo Panelli (15 July 1925 – 18 May 1997) was an Italian comedian and film actor. He appeared in 55 films between 1948 and 1996. He was married to Bice Valori.
Selected filmography
* '' Guarany'' (1948)
* ''Arrivederci, papà!'' (1948 ...
*
Teddy Reno
Teddy Reno (born 11 July 1926) is an Italian singer, songwriter, actor and record producer.
Life and career
Born in Trieste as Ferruccio Merk Ricordi, Reno made his debut on Radio Trieste during the Anglo-American administration of the city, la ...
*
Alberto Lupo
Alberto Lupo (byname of Alberto Zoboli; 19 December 1924 – 13 August 1984) was an Italian film and television actor best known for his roles in swash-buckling and actions films of the 1960s.
Lupo starred in films such as '' A 008, operazion ...
Enrico Viarisio
Enrico Viarisio (3 December 1897 – 1 November 1967) was an Italian theatre and cinema actor.
Biography
Equipped of a fine and elegant humour, Viarisio was discovered by actress Paola Pezzaglia, who cast him at 19 as "brillante" in her own theat ...
*
Pierre Brice
Pierre-Louis Le Bris (6 February 1929 – 6 June 2015), known as Pierre Brice, was a French actor, best known as portraying fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German films based on Karl May novels.
Life and films
Brice was born in Brest, Bri ...
*
Aldo Bufi Landi
Aldo Bufi Landi (7 April 1923 – 2 February 2016) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013.
Selected filmography
* '' Malaspina'' (1947)
* '' Madunnella'' (1948)
* '' Assunta Spina'' (1948)
* ''L ...
*
Vittorio Caprioli
Vittorio Caprioli (15 August 1921 – 2 October 1989) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 109 films between 1946 and 1990, mostly in French productions.
Biography
Caprioli was born in Naples. Having graduated fr ...
Joe Sentieri
Joe Sentieri (byname of Rino Luigi Sentieri; Genoa 3 March 1925, - Pescara 27 March 2007) was an Italian singer and actor.
Career
His first success was the winning of the competition "Canzonissima" in 1959 with his version of the number one hit ...
Luisella Boni
Luisella Boni (born 24 July 1935) is an Italian actress.
Born in Como, Lombardy as Luisa Angela Bozzo, Boni debuted in 1952 in Bernard Vorhaus' film ''Finishing School''.
One of the most active actresses in Italian cinema between the early fifti ...
*
Lia Zoppelli
Lia Zoppelli (16 November 1920 – 2 January 1988) was an Italian stage, television and film actress.
Life and career
Born in Milan, Zoppelli made her stage debut in 1939, shortly after her high school graduation, with the company Maltagliati ...
*
Lilla Brignone
Lilla Brignone (23 August 1913 – 24 March 1984) was an Italian film and theater actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1930 and 1982. Her father was film director and actor Guido Brignone and her aunt was actress Mercedes Brignone. Her ...
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Rossella Como
Rossella Como (29 January 1939 – 20 December 1986) was an Italian actress and television personality.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Rossella Como started her career at just 16 years old as a TV presenter, in the RAI show ''Primo applauso''. S ...
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Scilla Gabel
Scilla Gabel (born Gianfranca Gabellini; 4 January 1938) is an Italian film, television and stage actress. She appeared in 50 films between 1954 and 1982.
Career
Born in Rimini, Italy, one of five children, Gabel entered the cinema industry as ...
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Cristina Gaioni
Cristina Gaioni (born as Maria Cristina Gaioni; 4 November 1940) is an Italian actress, sometimes credited as Cristina Gajoni and Cristina Gaioni Visentin.
Born in Milan, Gaioni studied acting at the drama school of Piccolo Teatro under Giorgi ...
Franco Giacobini
Franco Giacobini (5 March 1926 – 27 December 2015) was an Italian actor.
Born in Rome as Francesco Giacobini, he graduated at Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico in 1948, then started a prolific stage career, working in comed ...
*
Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...
Franco Balducci
Franco Balducci (23 November 1922 – 7 June 2001) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 75 films between 1947 and 1978. He was born in Umbria, Italy.
Selected filmography
* ''Bullet for Stefano'' (1947) - Giacomo
* ''Tempesta su Pari ...
*
Alberto Farnese
Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1951 and 1989. He starred in the film ''Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of ...
*
Gianni Garko
Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935), often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana ...
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Maurizio Arena
Maurizio Arena (26 December 1933 – 21 November 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1952 and 1978.
Life and career
Born in Rome as Maurizio Di Lorenzo, Arena made his film debut at nineteen years old, ...
*
Giacomo Furia
Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998.
Life and career
Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting career ...
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Stelvio Rosi
Stelvio Rosi (1 August 1938 – 19 December 2018), also known as Stan Cooper, was an Italian film actor.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Rosi made his film debut as a child actor in 1942, in Ferdinando Maria Poggioli's ''Yes, Madam''. He repri ...
Luigi Pavese
Luigi Pavese (25 October 1897 – 13 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Asti, Pavese started his career in 1916 working as a silent film actor at 19 years of age. He then began his theatrical debut in 192 ...
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
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Steve Reeves
Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonis ...
Mac Ronay
Mac or MAC most commonly refers to:
* Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc.
* Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth
* A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese
* Mac, ...
Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni (6 May 1927 – 27 July 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1979.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Manni debuted as an actor in 1952, when in spite of his acting inexperience he wa ...
*
Rik Battaglia
Rik Battaglia (byname of Caterino Bertaglia; 18 February 1927 – 27 March 2015) was an Italian film actor. He was born at Corbola, near Rovigo, Veneto.
He mainly used the stage name of Rik Battaglia although alternate names he used for his f ...
*
Francesco Mulé
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), seve ...
*
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
*
Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
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Aldo Giuffrè
Aldo Giuffrè (10 April 1924 – 26 June 2010) was an Italian film actor and comedian who appeared in over 90 films between 1948 and 2001. He was born in Naples and was the brother of actor Carlo Giuffrè.
He is known for his roles in '' The ...
*
Renata Mauro
Renata Mauro (born Renata Maraolo; 17 May 1934 – 28 March 2009) was an Italian singer, actress and television presenter for RAI, the Italian state broadcaster.
She became known to international audiences for hosting game show ''Jeux Sans Fr ...