''Neapolitan Turk'' () is a 1953 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

Mario Mattoli Mario Mattoli (; 30 November 1898 – 26 February 1980) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 86 films between 1934 and 1966. His 1939 film ''Defendant, Stand Up!'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comed ...

and starring

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 ...

Plot

The film is based on a play by the famous Neapolitan writer

Eduardo Scarpetta Eduardo Scarpetta (13 March 1853 – 12 November 1925) was an Italian actor and playwright from Naples. His best-known play is ''Misery and Nobility.'' Biography Although not from a theatrical family, he was on the stage by the age of four ...

, father of

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...

and

Peppino De Filippo Giuseppe "Peppino" De Filippo (24 August 1903 – 27 January 1980) was an Italian actor. De Filippo was born in Naples, brother of actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and of Titina De Filippo. He made his stage debut at the age of six. ...

and Titina De Filippo The story is set 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 ...

and

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

in the second half of 1800. The thief ''Felice Sciosciammocca'' (the surname in Naples means "one who is always with her mouth open in astonishment"; ''Felice'' means "Happy") together with the bandit Faina ("Weasel") escapes from prison and meets with a Turkish

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

that he should go to

for a job. Don Felice kidnaps him and steals his letter of recommendation to get into the house of a rich businessman, so that gains a bit of money for him and for his accomplice. The man who had called the Turkish is the rich grocer Don Pasquale, being jealous of his wife and young daughter, betrothed to Don Carluccio holding a dowry, is to host the Turk and immediately test some suspicion. In fact, the Turk rather than look like a eunuch protector proves to be a great womanizer and causes the sympathy of all the girls in the town and the wrath of the young. Don Felice, forgetting appears Faina, have fun in monitoring the wife and daughter of Pasquale and Don Carluccio appears more and more restless by the net waste of his betrothed. In the following days Don Felice will be met with the Honourable MP Cocchetelli who had recommended the real Turk to Don Pasquale, but cannot reveal the truth because Don Felice surprised him with a girl who was not his wife. On the day of the wedding, don Carluccio, after an engagement party gone wrong, stormed into the house of Don Pasquale to beat him, but Don Felice intervenes and gives the marching orders to the bully who runs away scared. All thank Don Felice, who reveals his identity and claims to have done all this misunderstanding and funny situations to entertain the audience watching him from a theater.

Cast

as Felice Sciosciammocca *

Ignazio Balsamo Ignazio Balsamo (25 October 1912 – 7 August 1994) was an Italian film and stage actor. Life and career Born in Catania, Balsamo began his career on stage, being part of several Sicilian language theatrical companies. Discovered by Pietr ...

as Luigi *

Isa Barzizza Isa Barzizza (22 November 1929 – 28 May 2023) was an Italian actress whose career spanned over 60 years. Life and career Early life Born in Sanremo, Barzizza was the daughter of the conductor and composer Pippo Barzizza. Gianfranco Baldazzi ...

as Giulietta * Primarosa Battistella as Lisetta *

Liana Billi A liana is a long- stemmed woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a tax ...

as Giuliana *

Carlo Campanini Carlo Campanini (5 October 1906 – 20 November 1984) was an Italian actor, singer and comedian. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1939 and 1969. Life and career Born in Turin, Campanini attended a technical school and a course of ...

as Don Pasquale *

Anna Campori Anna Campori (22 September 1917 – 19 January 2018) was an Italian actress. From 1951 onwards, she appeared in 70 films. Life and career Born in Rome, Italy, after the debut on stage in a small company of prose Campori moved shortly after in ...

as Concettella *

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 L'onorevole Cocchetelli * Dino Curcio as Michele * Christiane Dury as Marion * Franca Faldini as Angelica *

Amedeo Girard Amedeo is an Italian language, Italian theophoric name, theophoric given name meaning "lover of God", "loves God", or more correctly "for the love of God" and cognate to the Latin name Amadeus (name), Amadeus, the Spanish Amadeo (disambiguation), Am ...

as Ignazio *

Aldo Giuffrè Aldo Giuffrè (10 April 1924 – 26 June 2010) was an Italian film actor and comedian who appeared in over 90 films between 1948 and 2001. He was the brother of actor Carlo Giuffrè. He is known for his roles in '' The Four Days of Naples'', ...

as Faina

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neapolitan Turk 1953 films 1953 comedy films 1950s Italian-language films Italian films based on plays Films based on works by Eduardo Scarpetta Films directed by Mario Mattoli Films set in Naples Films set in Sorrento Films with screenplays by Ruggero Maccari Italian comedy films 1950s Italian films Italian-language comedy films