''The Hunchback of Rome'' (

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 ...

: ''Il gobbo'') is a 1960

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Carlo Lizzani Carlo Lizzani (3 April 1922 – 5 October 2013) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and critic. Biography Born in Rome, before World War II Lizzani worked as a scenarist on such films as Roberto Rossellini's '' Germany Year Zero'', ...

. It is loosely based on the real life events of Giuseppe Albano, an Italian

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

who was involved in the Roman Resistance against

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

between 1943 and 1945.

Plot

Alvaro Cosenza is a young

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from the south, who, in German-occupied Rome, fights against

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

forces, becoming a partisan leader in the process. His main enemy is Inspector Moretti, who is also the father of Nina, a woman Alvaro realizes he's is in love with after assaulting and impregnating her as an insult to the inspector. Moretti is then killed by Alvaro when he, having discovered the violence suffered by his daughter, tries to have Alvaro killed by his own companions. Discovering that Alvaro had killed her father, Nina aborts the child. After the liberation of Italy, together with members of his gang, Alvaro begins a life of crime, which causes the locals to label him as dangerous. Left alone after her father's death, Nina becomes involved with Leandro, a former partisan, left maimed following a beating suffered by Moretti, who introduces her to

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

. However, after meeting Alvaro again, she realizes that she is in love with him.

Cast

Gérard Blain Gérard Blain (23 October 1930 – 17 December 2000) was a French actor and film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while gui ...

: Alvaro Cosenza *

Anna Maria Ferrero Anna Maria Ferrero (18 February 1935 – 21 May 2018) was an Italian actress. Early life and career Born Anna Maria Guerra, she changed her last name to Ferrero in honor of the composer Willy Ferrero. Her film debut came at the age of 15 in '' ...

: Nina *

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

: Leandro *

Bernard Blier Bernard Blier (; 11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor. Life and career Blier was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. His rotund featu ...

: Maresciallo *

Nino Castelnuovo Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021) was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (1964). Castelnu ...

: Cencio *

Enzo Cerusico Enzo Cerusico (22 October 1937 – 26 November 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1948 and 1984. Life and career The son of a production manager, Cerusico started his career as a child actor in 1948 ...

: Scheggia *

Ivo Garrani Ivo Garrani (6 February 1924 – 25 March 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's '' Black Sunday'' (1960). Biography Born in Introdacqua, ...

: Moretti *

Lars Bloch Lars Bloch (6 August 1938 – 27 March 2022), was a Danish-Italian actor and producer, sometimes credited as ''Lars Block'' or ''Carlos Ewing''. Born in Hellerup, after military service in the Navy, Bloch moved to Italy and in the late 1950s embar ...

: German torturer *

Alex Nicol Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr. (January 20, 1916 – July 29, 2001) was an American actor and film director. Nicol appeared in many Westerns including '' The Man from Laramie'' (1955). He appeared in more than forty feature films as well as dir ...

: U.S. official *

Franco Balducci Franco Balducci (23 November 1922 – 7 June 2001) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 75 films between 1947 and 1978. He was born in Umbria, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Bullet for Stefano'' (1947) - Giacomo * ''Tempesta su Pari ...

: Pellaccia *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. Selected f ...

Background

The film is inspired by the true story of Giuseppe Albano, known as the "hunchback of the Quarticciolo" and is set against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation and the

post-war period 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, w ...

of the Roman villages, presented in a neorealist style by

. Furthermore, the plot only partially tells the real story of Albano, drawing only a few (albeit relevant) ideas from it. Of note in this film is one of

's first appearances on screen in the part of Leandro known as "er monco".

Distribution

Broadcast on

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

for the first time in 1975, a few months before the killing of Pier Paolo Pasolini, with viewer discretion advised due to the crudeness of the subject and the dramatic sequence in which the actress Anna Maria Ferrero is seen from behind.

References

External links

* * 1960 films 1960 war films 1960s biographical films Italian war films Italian biographical films Films directed by Carlo Lizzani Films with screenplays by Ugo Pirro Films with screenplays by Luciano Vincenzoni World War II films based on actual events Films about Italian resistance movement Italian Campaign of World War II films Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Films scored by Piero Piccioni Italian World War II films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-film-stub