''The Counterfeiters'' () is a 1951 Italian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by Franco Rossi and starring

Fosco Giachetti Fosco Giachetti (28 March 1900, in Sesto Fiorentino – 22 December 1974, in Rome) was an Italian actor. Fosco Giachetti was the protagonist of ''Lo squadrone bianco'' (1936), directed by Augusto Genina. He became the leading man in Fascist ...

Doris Duranti Doris Duranti (25 April 1917 – 10 March 1995) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 43 films between 1935 and 1975. She had a years-long affair with Alessandro Pavolini, a Fascist politician who in 1945 was executed by Italian par ...

and

Erno Crisa Erno Crisa (10 March 1914 – 4 April 1968) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1944 and 1968. His last film was the spaghetti western '' Sugar Colt''. Partial filmography * '' Sideral Cruises'' (1942) - L'h ...

. It marked the directorial debut of Rossi. The film's sets and costumes 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 ...

Gaia Romanini. It was distributed by the Italian subsidiary of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Plot

Police inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

Moroni pretends to be a traveling salesman to unmask a gang of

counterfeiters The Counterfeiters or Counterfeiters may refer to: * ''The Counterfeiters'' (novel), a 1925 novel by André Gide * ''Counterfeiters'' (1940 film), a German film * ''The Counterfeiters'' (1948 film), an American film directed by Sam Newfield * ...

. Thus begins his investigations, which together with an anonymous letter lead him to investigate in the city of

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 ...

Cast

as Moroni *

as Teresa *

as Pietro *

Lianella Carell Lianella Carell (6 May 1927 – 22 December 2000) was an Italian film actress and screenwriter. She appeared in 18 films between 1948 and 1958. She is best known for playing Maria Ricci, the wife of the protagonist in the 1948 film ''Bicycle ...

as Lucia *

Saro Urzì Rosario "Saro" Urzì (24 February 1913 – 1 November 1979) was an Italian actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In the Name of the Law'' (1949), ''The Railroad Man'' (1956), '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964), which earned him a ...

as Commissioner * Mario Angelotti as Nicola *

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 rol ...

as Dario *

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 ...

as Maggiori *

Attilio Dottesio Attilio Dottesio (16 July 1909 – 12 February 1989) was an Italian film character actor and singer. He appeared in 170 films between 1940 and 1985. Born in Brescia, Dottesio began his career in France, where first he obtained some success ...

as Carlo Farina *

Agostino Salvietti Agostino Salvietti (28 August 1882 - 2 December 1967) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than forty films from 1924 to 1964. Filmography References External links * 1882 births 1967 deaths Italian male film actors {{It ...

as Il venditore di libri usati *

Mario Terribile Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. M ...

as Prospero Marias * Ida Bracci Dorati as Maria Cinelli *

Leopoldo Trieste Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer. Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He worked with directors such as Pietro Germi, Francis Ford Coppola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, T ...

as Il brigadiere Caputo *

Michele Malaspina Michele Malaspina (16 August 1908 – 13 January 1979) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Bolzaneto, Genoa, the son of two shopkeepers, since childhood Malaspina has a passion for theater and was an actor in a co ...

as L'sspettore della finanza *

Roberto Murolo Roberto Murolo (19 January 1912 – 13 March 2003) was an Italian musician. Career Born in Naples, Italy as the son of poet Ernesto Murolo and Lia Cavalli, Murolo showed a passion for music at a young age and began singing and playing the gu ...

as Singer

References

Bibliography

* Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959''. Gremese Editore, 1991.

External links

* 1950 films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Franco Rossi Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli 1950 directorial debut films Italian crime films 1950 crime films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films Films set in Naples Italian-language crime films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub