The Secret of Santa Vittoria [VHS]
by Stanley Kramer
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Product details
Actor: Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn, Hardy Kr?ger, Sergio Franchi, Virna LisiDirector: Stanley Kramer
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 139 minutes
Release Date: 1996-03-26
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Movie Reviews of The Secret of Santa Vittoria [VHS]
Movie Review: Sleeper!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was the best Anthony Quinn movie we've ever seen. He should have won an Oscar for this one, too! Cute story, lots of action, great acting.Movie Review: Secret of Santa Vittoria
Summary: 5 Stars
This film adheres very closely to the book by the same name, but dwells only briefly on the book's most unpleasant part. It is set in World War II German-occupied Italy, during the turbulent time following Mussolini's overthrow and Italy's withdrawl from the Axis alliance.
Word reaches the hillside town of Santa Vittoria that its fabulous wine reserve is to be seized by the retreating German army. The newly installed mayor, viewed as a buffoon by his wife and the saner citizens of the town, is faced with saving the wine from the Germans. He proves that not all buffoons are the same; some have much more common sense than they appear to possess. The film is a brief clash of two cultures where the apparent underdog runs circles around its supposed superior.
This film has humor, tension, love, and a dash of evil as it occurs within the backdrop of war. Anthony Quinn, who plays the mayor Bombolini, does a superb job, even if you are not an Anthony Quinn fan. The film should leave you smiling at the end.
It is well worth including in your video library.
Movie Review: "What kind of people ARE you?"
Summary: 4 Stars
Bombolini (Anthony Quinn) is Santa Vittoria's resident fool, drunk, and lazy good-for-nothing, but everybody in town loves him. He becomes the new mayor just as the Germans are coming to occupy the village and confiscate over a million bottles of wine. Bombolini comes up with a plan to hide most of it, but will everyone keep the secret?
This drama with comedic elements has a lot going for it, especially Anthony Quinn in a happy-to-lucky role similar to his in Zorba the Greek with the wonderful Anna Magnani playing his long-suffering wife. Their scenes are full of earthy charm and raucous energy. Handsome Hardy Kruger plays the German captain who tries to find the wine; he's quite charming but his playfulness and non-violent approach to war are a bit hard to believe. Sultry Virna Lisi gives a solid performance as a troubled, snooty Countess who catches the captain's eye.
The movie, unfortunately, is too long by half, with the first hour moving at a snail's pace, and the energy fades when Quinn isn't on the screen. Still, I liked it a lot because the characters are endearing and the message of solidarity is a good one. Directed by Stanley Kramer and nicely photographed in Italy.
Movie Review: tragi-comedic gem
Summary: 4 Stars
The Secret of Santa Vitoria is a delightful tragi-comedic gem about the dehumanization of war and keeping priorities straight. At first the characters seem one-dimensional but gradually we see them change into more complex people. The high light of the film is the amazing human ladder to save the wine which propels the story. Movie Review: Bravo! Bella!
Summary: 4 Stars
"Secret of Santa Vittoria" is a wonderfully flavorful comic drama whose major fault can be overlength which is apparent in the film's second half. Anthony Quinn, whose made a garden industry out of playing earthy peasant types(I wasn't a big fan of Zorba), is totally winning as the town clown, Italo Bombolini, foisted into the position of mayor on the eve of the German occupation in the waning days of World War II. The town's lifeblood is it's wine supply and the German's intentions are to abscond with it and it's up to the fool Bombolini to outsmart the master race. Hardy Kruger is equally fine as a German officer torn by gentility and his desire not to look foolish in front of these "barbarians". Anna Magnani shines as Bombolini's hard-bitten long-suffering spouse. The film looks great and you get a real sense of community here. A real gem.
Summary of The Secret of Santa Vittoria [VHS]
The bestseller from The Great Impostor's Robert Crichton inspired this leisurely serio-comedy, which takes up where Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist left off--with the death of Benito Mussolini. The dictator's departure should come as good news for the hilltop town of Santa Vittoria, but new problems lay ahead (Federico Fellini favorite Giuseppe Rotunno shot the sun-drenched movie in Italy). Feeling betrayed by Il Duce, wine merchant Italo Bombolini (La Strada's Anthony Quinn) drinks his disappointment away to the consternation of his rolling pin-wielding wife, Rosa (The Rose Tattoo's Anna Magnani). Nonetheless, the townspeople like the "drunken, stupid clown," as Rosa calls him, enough that they appoint Bombolini mayor. To prepare him for duty, the college-educated Fabio (Swept Away's Giancarlo Giannini) introduces the new civic leader to Machiavelli, who wrote, "Things are never what they seem." When Fabio brings news that the Nazis plan to raid their wine reserves, Bombolini and Tufa (Sergio Franchi), a former soldier, heed those words and arrange to hide one million bottles in a Roman cave. Capt. Von Prum (Hardy Kr?ger) suspects subterfuge, and orders a search of every nook and cranny, while attempting to woo war widow Contessa Caterina (Queen Margot's Virna Lisi). At 139 minutes, Judgment at Nuremberg producer/director Stanley Kramer's Golden Globe-winning picture seems longer than necessary, but Quinn, Magnani, and Kr?ger provide just enough nuance to prevent their characters from slipping into caricature, and the film's celebration of solidarity lends it an enduring appeal. --Kathleen C. Fennessy1960-1969 Video
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