''Down with Misery'' () is a 1945 Italian

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Gennaro Righelli Gennaro Righelli (12 December 1886 – 6 January 1949) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and acting, actor. He directed more than 110 films in Italy and Germany between 1910 and 1947. In 1930, he directed the first Italian sound fil ...

and starring

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of ...

Nino Besozzi Nino Besozzi (6 February 1901 – 2 February 1971) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1931 and 1970. He was born in and died in Milan, Italy. Life and career After graduating in accountancy, Besozzi made ...

and

Marisa Vernati Marisa Vernati (21 June 1920 – 1 February 1988) was an Italian actress. Born in Rome, Vernati was helped by her aunt soprano Luisa Tetrazzini to enter the world of entertainment, starting with small roles in films directed by Raffaello Mataraz ...

. It was shot at the Farnesina Studios in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

during the autumn of 1945. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Gino Brosio. It was released in the wake Magnani's success in

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...

's ''

Rome, Open City ''Rome, Open City'' (), also released as ''Open City'', is a 1945 Italian Italian neorealism, neorealist war film, war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei, Celeste Negarville and Federico Fellini. Set in Rom ...

''. It makes reference to the thriving

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

Italy and was followed by a loose sequel ''

Peddlin' in Society ''Peddlin' in Society'' or ''Down With Riches!'' () is a 1946 Italian romance-drama film directed by Gennaro Righelli. it was a loose sequel to the 1945 film '' Down with Misery'' by the same director and also starring Magnani. Cast *Anna Ma ...

'' (1946) which focused on a similar theme.

Synopsis

Nannina, a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

, is frustrated by her

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

's husband Giovanni's refusal to take part in the

and pressures him into take part in illegal actions with their more successful neighbour Gaetano. While he is in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Giovanni rescues and adopts a boy he finds in the bombed-out southern city. His wife is furious and coldly rejects the boy at first, but gradually warms to him. Meanwhile, Giovanni becomes involved in fake currency smuggling, bringing the family increased prosperity, until he is caught and sent briefly to prison. The boy's father than turns up, he had gone missing rather than be killed in the bombing, and offers Giovanni an honest job.

Cast

as Nannina Straselli *

as Giovanni Straselli *

Virgilio Riento Virgilio Riento (29 November 1889 – 7 September 1959) was an Italian actor and comedian. He appeared in 108 films between 1936 and 1959. Life and career The son of a theatrical impresario, Riento made his debut on stage as a child, as a ...

as Gaetano Schioppa *

as Caterina Schioppa * Vito Chiari as Nello Esposito *

Sandro Ruffini Alessandro "Sandro" Ruffini (21 September 1889 – 29 November 1954) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Born in Rome, Ruffini appeared in 64 films between 1913 and 1954, and was also active in theatre and radio. He was well known for his b ...

as Porzio Ray *

Lauro Gazzolo Lauro Gazzolo (born Ilario Gazzolo; 15 October 1900 – 2 October 1970) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Nervi, Gazzolo began his career on screen in 1938 starring in the comedy film '' The Document'' and became mo ...

as Commendator Trombetti *

Aldo Silvani Aldo Silvani (21 January 1891 – 12 November 1964) was an Italian stage, film and voice actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1934 and 1964. Selected filmography * ''Cardinal Lambertini (1934 film), Cardinal Lambertini'' (1934) * ...

as The cellmate * Vittorio Mottini as The father of Nello *

Checco Durante Francesco "Checco" Durante (19 November 1893 – 5 January 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 59 films between 1931 and 1973. Selected filmography * '' The Doctor in Spite of Himself'' (1931) * '' The Amnesiac'' (1936) - L'all ...

as The bellman of the radiogram *

Mario Castellani Mario Castellani (24 November 190625 April 1978) was an Italian comic actor, best known as the sidekick of famous comic actor Antonio De Curtis (Totò). He appeared with the latter in all his major movies, as well as many of Totò's theatre prod ...

as A police officer

References

Bibliography

* Burke, Frank. ''A Companion to Italian Cinema''. John Wiley & Sons, 2017. * Gundle, Stephen. ''Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism''. Berghahn Books, 2019. * Sorlin, Pierre. ''Italian National Cinema''. Routledge, 2006.

External links

* 1945 films 1945 comedy-drama films Italian comedy-drama films Films directed by Gennaro Righelli Italian black-and-white films Lux Film films Films set in Rome Films set in Naples 1940s Italian films {{1940s-comedy-drama-film-stub