''The Awakening'' (, also known as ''When Angels Don't Fly'') is a 1956

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Mario Camerini Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Camerini began his career in the film industry in 1920, working for his cousin the director Augusto Genina. Camerini went on to direct his own fi ...

. For this film

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 ...

was awarded with her fifth

Silver Ribbon The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...

for

best actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

Plot

Sister Letizia, after having worked in African missions, is sent to close a convent on an island in the Gulf of Naples and, as soon as she arrives at her destination, she successfully undertakes to obtain good offers for the sale of the land of the convent. Here he meets a boy named Salvatore whom he grows fond of. With great skill then, Sister Letizia goes beyond the task entrusted to her and undertakes to avoid the closure of the convent, and to reopen the kindergarten that the nuns once held; thus the sale is upset. During his stay he becomes more and more fond of little Salvatore, fatherless, whose mother plans to get married for a second time. Her boyfriend, however, has no intention of taking Salvatore into the future family and the woman, cornered, eventually chooses to follow her boyfriend to Naples and leave Salvatore in the convent, entrusting him to Sister Letizia. From this moment on, Sister Letizia begins to feel less and less a nun and more and more a woman and a mother, eager to protect the little one she becomes attached to, to the point of neglecting her duties. Sister Letizia's attachment to the child was noticed by the nuns, who respectfully point out to her how her preference is now evident to all the other children in the kindergarten. Called back to Rome, Sister Letizia decides to take Salvatore with her to the disapproval of her sisters. The night before leaving, however, the child clearly demonstrates to Sister Letizia that she could not replace her mother in her heart as, up until that moment, she had deluded herself that she could. The next day Sister Letizia decides to put the good of the child before her own: so she goes to Naples instead of Rome, bringing the baby back to the mother and intervening energetically in front of the boyfriend, so that he accepts Salvatore in the new family.

Cast

as Sister Letizia *

Eleonora Rossi Drago Eleonora Rossi Drago, born Palmina Omiccioli, (23 September 1925 – 2 December 2007) was an Italian film actress. She was born in Quinto al Mare, Genoa, Italy, and had the leading role in '' Le amiche''. She appeared in '' The Facts of Mur ...

as Assunta *

Antonio Cifariello Antonio Cifariello (19 May 1930 – 12 December 1968) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Naples, son of the sculptor Filippo Cifariello, Antonio started his career in 1950 as the main actor, credited as Fabio Montale, in ''La s ...

as Peppino * Piero Boccia as Salvatore *

Bianca Doria Bianca Doria (22 September 1915 – 2 February 1985) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than forty films during her career. She appeared in the 1963 peplum '' Hercules Against the Mongols''.Hughes, Howard. ''Cinema Italiano: The Co ...

as Concetta * Luisa Rossi as Nun

References

External links

* * 1956 films Italian comedy-drama films Films directed by Mario Camerini Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini 1950s Italian films 1956 comedy-drama films Italian black-and-white films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub