''Rome-Paris-Rome'' () is a 1951 French-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

Luigi Zampa Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school in Rome. He directed several Italian neorealism films in the 1940 ...

and starring

Aldo Fabrizi Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's ''Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò in ...

Sophie Desmarets Sophie Desmarets (; 1922–2012) was a French film actress.Davis p.145 Selected filmography * ''Battement de coeur'' (1940) - (uncredited) * ''Premier rendez-vous'' (1941) - Henriette Lefranc * ''The Man Who Played with Fire'' (1942) - Gabrielle ...

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. ...

. 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, ...

and on location in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. 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 ...

Enrico Ciampi.

Plot

Vicenzo works as an

attendant Attendant or attendance may refer to: * Car attendant, a railroad employee * Flight attendant, flight crew employed to ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers * Museum attendant * Toilet attendant, maintains standards in a toilet and coll ...

on the

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

s between

and

. For several years he has had two families, a wife and scrounging

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...

brother-in-law in Rome and an attractive widow with a young daughter in Paris whose existence he has managed to keep secret from the other. When he is offered the chance to work permanently at one location he chooses Paris, but complications ensue when his brother-in-law follows him to the French capital.

Cast

as Vincenzo Nardi *

as Ginette * Vera Nandi as Signora Nardi *

as Gennaro * Barbara Florian as Mirella *

Noël Roquevert Noël Roquevert (born Noël Louis Raymond Bénévent; 18 December 1892 – 6 November 1973) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1932 and 1972. Roquevert was born in Doué-la-Fontaine and was married ...

as Robert * Maso Lotti as Enrico Nardi *

Nando Bruno Nando Bruno (6 October 1895 – 10 April 1963) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1938 and 1961. He was born in Rome, Italy and he died there. Selected filmography * '' A Lady Did It'' (1938) - Un collego di Pasqual ...

as Riccardo * Geraldina Parrinello as Michélle *

Luigi Almirante Luigi Almirante (30 September 1884 – 6 May 1963) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in 62 films between 1921 and 1955. Life and career The son of a stage actor, Almirante was born in Tunis, where the theatrical company of ...

as Professor Busi Migliavacca *

Anna Vita Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th cen ...

as Impiegata bionda alla Stazione Termini *

Marisa Merlini Marisa Merlini (6 August 1923 – 27 July 2008) was an Italian character actress active in Italy's post-World War II cinema. Merlini appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned from World War II to 2005. In Luigi Comencini's 19 ...

as signora nel vagone letto *

Pietro De Vico Pietro De Vico (1 February 1911 – 10 December 1999) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1948 and 1991. He was married, from 1937 until his death in 1999, to actress Anna Campori. Selected filmography * '' Christma ...

as Sposino nel vagone letto *

Julien Carette Julien Henri Carette (23 December 1897 – 20 July 1966) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1964. Selected filmography * '' American Love'' (1931) - Lepape * ''Seul'' (1932) - Michel * '' Fun in the Ba ...

as Direttore parigino dei vagoni letto *

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 Meccanico *

Ada Colangeli Ada Colangeli (5 March 1913 – 29 February 1992) was an Italian character actress. Life and career Born on 5 March 1913 in Rome, Colangeli began acting in the early 1940s, and she was mainly cast in roles of women from a low social class. Acti ...

as Assunta, la portinaia *

Paolo Ferrara Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian form of the name Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603–1649), Ital ...

as direttore romano dei vagoni letto * Janine Marsay as Praline * Monica Clay as Liliana *

Laure Paillette Laure may refer to: * ''Laure'' (film), a 1976 Italian erotic film in the Emmanuelle universe * ''Doxocopa laure'', commonly known as the Laure, a butterfly People * Laura (given name) (French variant) * Laure (art model) (fl. 1859–1867), Frenc ...

as Paillette

Criticism

Gian Piero Brunetta highlights, with regard to this period, the "progressive integration of writers in cinema", so in Signori, in carrozza! we find, among the screenwriters, the name of Brancati as Alberto Moravia had found in Perdizione, and, by listing, writers such as Palazzeschi, Calvino, Pratolini and others engaged in the new role of screenwriters. Brunetta himself sees this commitment, however, simply as a "recruitment of intellectual workforce for the manufacture of products destined for popular markets". It has also been noted that Gentlemen, in a carriage! "Is considered a bit of a Cinderella between the films of Zampa and Brancati, overshadowed by the fame of works such as difficult years, easy years, the art of getting by. Alberto Moravia said: "In this film there is only one really vital reason: the comparison between the scrounger and the scrounger, between the conductor of the sleeping cars and his impudent and insatiable brother-in-law".

References

Bibliography

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

External links

* 1951 films Italian comedy films French comedy films 1950s Italian-language films Films set in Rome Films set in Paris 1951 comedy films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Luigi Zampa Films with screenplays by Ruggero Maccari Lux Film films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub