''Asso'' (''Ace'') is an Italian

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

Franco Castellano Franco Castellano (20 June 1925 – 28 December 1999) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 94 films between 1958 and 1997. He also directed 21 films between 1964 and 1992. Most of the films he co-wrote and co-directed ...

and

Giuseppe Moccia Giuseppe "Pipolo" Moccia (22 June 1933 – 20 August 2006) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 96 films between 1958 and 2001. He also directed 21 films between 1964 and 1997. Most of the films he co-wrote and co-direc ...

and released in 1981. The film stars

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...

Edwige Fenech Edwige Fenech (, ; born 24 December 1948) is a French-Italian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of ''commedia sexy all'italiana'' and ''giallo'' films released predominantly through her 20 year career in 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, Rob ...

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 ...

Pippo Santonastaso Giuseppe "Pippo" Santonastaso (born 25 May 1936) is an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born in Castel San Giovanni, Piacenza, to a Neapolitan family, Santonastaso created an original comic duo with his younger brother Mario (1937 � ...

Gianni Magni I Gufi ("The Owls", also spelled just as Gufi) was an Italian musical and comedy ensemble, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s. Career The group formed in Milan between 1963 and 1964, and debuted on stage with the show "I Gufi canta ...

and

Elisabetta Viviani Elisabetta Viviani (born 10 October 1953) is an Italian singer, actress, and TV personality. Biography Born in Milan in 1953, she began her career in 1962 as a child, playing small roles in the Carosellos RAI and, from the age of seven, she at ...

. It was filmed in Italy.

Plot

Asso, an ace

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player, has just married his long-time love, Silvia, the most coveted woman in his neighborhood. For her sake, he promises to give up poker, but the unexpected arrival of a notorious player in town and his wife's permission push him into one last game, which he wins. But as he tries to return home the following morning, he is apprehended by Sicario, one of his closer acquaintances and a professional assassin who has been hired to do away with Asso himself. Shot multiple times, Asso dies but returns as a

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

out of worry for leaving his wife behind without any means of supporting herself. Because of their close bond, Silvia can see and hear him, but to anyone else Asso is invisible. After managing to convince his wife that he really is dead, he tries to get her remarried so she will not end up on the streets, and his choice falls on the feeble but rich banker Luigi Morgan. Morgan is of course delighted to win the attention of such a beautiful lady, but this invites the jealousy of Bretella, Asso's rival for Silvia's hand. As it turns out, Bretella had commissioned Sicario to assassinate Asso and now tries to hire him again to finish off Morgan. Shaken by remorse over killing Asso, Sicario refuses and even promises to go to the police, whereupon Bretella kills him and decides to do the job himself. However, after getting a short leave of absence from

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, Sicario reveals Bretella's true intentions to Asso, who rushes to Morgan's protection. He cannot prevent Bretella from kidnapping the banker, but by taking

Police Commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Rinaldi for a forced ride and thus catching the attention of the police, he does manage to prevent Morgan from getting killed and get Bretella arrested. In his desperation, however, Morgan has started praying to his dead wife for salvation, and once rescued, he revokes his courtship of Silvia due to what he perceives to be his wife's grace. Alone once more (save for Asso's company), Silvia learns of the arrival of a gifted young card player who is a dead look-alike of Asso. Once she falls for him, Asso fades away and goes to Heaven, where God himself invites him to a round of poker and, following Asso's defeat, a rematch in about three thousand years.

Cast

as Asso/unnamed Card Ace/God *

as Silvia *

as Bretella *

as Enrichetta Morgan *

as Luigi Morgan *

as Sicario *

as The Tourist *

Dino Cassio Dino Cassio (2 April 1934 - 9 July 2012) was an Italian actor and singer. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1964 to 2008. Selected filmography References External links * 1934 births 2012 deaths Italian male film actors< ...

as Commissioner Rinaldi *

Sandro Ghiani Sandro Ghiani (; born 12 August 1952) is an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Carbonia, Sardinia, the son of a postal clerk, Ghiani studied in a seminary, the Institute of Don Orione in Tortona in Piedmont, where ...

as The Cop *

Raffaele di Sipio Raffaele () is an Italian given name and surname, variant of the English Raphael. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Raffaele Amato (born 1965), Italian mobster *Raffaele Cutolo (1941–2021), Italian mobster *Raffaele Ganci (1932� ...

as The Choreographer *

Gianni Musy Giovanni "Gianni" Musy (3 August 1931 – 7 October 2011) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Milan, the son of actors Enrico Glori and Gianna Pacetti, he started working as a child actor at eleven years old and studied at ...

as The Speaker *

Gerry Bruno Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...

as Ettore Bruno

Reception

Critical response

Based on 606 user votes, IMDb grades the movie at 6.2.

References

External links

''Asso''
at

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