''Behind Closed Shutters'' () is a 1951 Italian

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

melodrama film In film studies and criticism, melodrama may variously refer to a genre, mode, style or sensibility characterized by its emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations. There is no fixed definition of the term an ...

directed by

Luigi Comencini Luigi Comencini (; 8 June 1916 – 6 April 2007) was an Italian film director. Together with Dino Risi, Ettore Scola, and Mario Monicelli, he was considered among the masters of the "commedia all'italiana" genre. His daughters Cristina Comencin ...

and starring

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Biography Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While ...

, Eleonora Rossi Drago and

Giulietta Masina Giulia Anna "Giulietta" Masina (; 22 February 1921 – 23 March 1994) was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina in ''La Strada'' (1954) and Cabiria in '' Nights of Cabiria'' (1957), for which she won the Cannes Fi ...

.Barattoni p. 224

Plot

Sandra (Rossi Drago) searches for her missing sister. For this, she enters the morally degraded seaside of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Turin: Sandra, daughter of a guardian, is engaged to Roberto, employed in a construction company. The girl has a sister, Lucia, who has been estranged from home following a relationship deemed illicit. A friend of Lucia is killed and thrown into the Po; Desperate Lucia tries to commit suicide, in agony she telephones and asks Sandra for help. To find Lucia, Sandra asks for help from the ambiguous Edmondo, known in the prostitution world. Edmondo recognizes Lucia's photo, but does not reveal it to Sandra. The reality is bitter: Lucia is employed by Primavera, an exploiter. Edmondo tries to prevent Sandra from finding her sister; Lured into a local misunderstanding, Sandra is arrested in a police roundup. Released she manages to reconnect with the exploiters who offer a ransom to free Lucia. A happy but daring ending with a shooting in the port of Genoa.

Cast

as Roberto * Eleonora Rossi Drago as Sandra *

as Pippo * Liliana Gerace as Lucia *

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

as Primavera * Ottavio Senoret as Signorino * Cesarina Gheraldi as Gianna * Antonio Nicotra as Barale *

as Primavera * Sidney Gordon as Il commissario * Goliarda Sapienza as La prostituta religiosa

References

Bibliography

* Luca Barattoni. ''Italian Post-Neorealist Cinema''. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.

External links

* 1951 films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian-language films Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Films set in Italy Films set in Genoa Lux Film films Films directed by Luigi Comencini Italian drama films 1951 drama films 1950s melodrama films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub