''Are We Men or Corporals?'' () is a 1955

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

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Camillo Mastrocinque Camillo Mastrocinque (11 May 1901 – 23 April 1969) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 60 films between 1937 and 1968, and is known to horror film fans for directing ''Terror in the Crypt'' (1964) starring ...

Plot

Toto is very good at acting, and so he is called in a study to be in a film. However he combines a mess and is offended by the director. Tired of the abuse of those most powerful, Toto tells him the story to the director, to let him know that he is wrong. These are the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and Toto is imprisoned in a concentration camp, suffering the harassment of Colonel Hammler, a Nazi cruel and despotic. Toto suffers patiently all the wrongs that the powerful general administers him, and he's just waiting to get out of the containment field. When the war ends, Toto is taken in a theater company, but immediately he argues with the director, because he is a vulgar American who likes women, and that he is in love with Sonia, the dear friend of Toto. Indeed Toto hopes that one day the woman asks him to marry her, but this lucky day does not come. When Toto is hunted by the theater company for beating his director, things are looking bad for him, because Toto is penniless. And so he agrees to do an extra in a movie. Now that Toto leaves the studio shooting, again he meets his old girlfriend Sonia, but she's married the director of theater...

Distribution

Censorship

Italy in the 1950s had taken on the law of 1923, without having made any major changes. The scripts were delivered by the film producers, before the film began. The reasons are understandable: to avoid the damage caused by any censorship or by having hurt the susceptibility of part of the political class of government and opposition. We are men or corporals, despite the cuts, if read carefully, it retains the strength of satire. There are numerous deleted scenes, both those of "naked ladies, semi-undressed models" but also of phrases such as: "these ministers (...) are ugly, ugly expressions, ugly faces"; while the phrase "it was better when it was worse" managed to survive in the final version of the film.

Cast

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 risat ...

: Totò Esposito *

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Paolo Stoppa was born in Rome into a family of a ministerial official, Luigi Stoppa, and Adriana De Antonis. He began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome ...

: The Corporal * Fiorella Mari: Sonia * Mara Werlen: Mimì *

Sylva Koscina Sylva Koscina (; born Silvija Košćina, ; 22 August 1933 – 26 December 1994) was a Yugoslav-born Italian actress, best known for her role as Iole, the bride of Hercules ( Steve Reeves) in ''Hercules'' (1958) and '' Hercules Unchained'' (196 ...

: Aspiring actress *

Nerio Bernardi Nerino "Nerio" Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. Life and career Born in Bologna, Bernardi started his acting career in 1918 with a loc ...

: Psychoanalyst * : Mr. Black's Secretary *

Gino Buzzanca Gino Buzzanca (8 March 1912 – 5 May 1985) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Messina, Buzzanca began his career on stage, specializing as an actor of the Sicilian language theater, and starring in works by Luigi Pirande ...

: Director *

Loris Gizzi Loris Gizzi (16 August 1899 – 6 October 1986) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Rome, after his university studies Gizzi attended a school of dance and singing. He abandoned the courses when he became an employee of Ferrovie dell ...

: Tenor *

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 care ...

: Nerone * Franca Faldini: Gabriella *

Rosita Pisano Rosa Pisano (15 October 1919 – 24 December 1975) was an Italian stage, film and television actress. Life and career Pisano was born in Naples, into a family of dialect theatre actors. She debuted on stage as a child actress in her family com ...

: Filomena Ossobuco *

Vinicio Sofia Vinicio Sofia (13 November 1907 – 30 December 1982) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Corleone in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sofia began his career on screen in 1933 when he made his film debut in ''Black Shir ...

: Cesarino Ossobuco *

Gildo Bocci Gildo Bocci (1 September 1886 – 22 July 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1913 and 1959. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. Partial filmography * '' Messalina'' (1924) - Apollonio * '' Quo Vadis'' (1924) ...

: Testimone * : Journalist

References

External links

* Italian comedy films Films directed by Camillo Mastrocinque 1955 comedy films 1955 films Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films 1950s Italian-language films Italian-language comedy films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub