The Secret of Santa Vittoria

Infobox Film
name = The Secret of Santa Vittoria


caption = original film poster by Bob Peak
director = Stanley Kramer
producer = Stanley Kramer
George Glass
writer = Ben Maddow
William Rose
Robert Crichton (novel)
starring = Anthony Quinn
Anna Magnani
Virna Lisi
Hardy Krüger
Sergio Franchi
music = Ernest Gold
cinematography = Giuseppe Rotunno
editing = Earle Herdan
William A. Lyon
distributor = United Artists
released = flagicon|USA 29 October 1969
runtime = 139 min
country = USA
awards = Golden Globe Best Picture
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:109311
imdb_id = 0064952

"The Secret of Santa Vittoria" is a 1969 film made by Stanley Kramer Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the novel by Robert Crichton. The music score was by Ernest Gold and the cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno.

The film stars Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi and Hardy Krüger with Sergio Franchi, Renato Rascel, Giancarlo Giannini and Eduardo Ciannelli with Valentina Cortese making an uncredited appearance.

Plot

Near the end of World War II, the Germans are being steadily driven out of Italy, much to the delight of the natives. However, Italo Bombolini (Anthony Quinn), the mayor of the winemaking town of Santa Vittoria, learns that the retreating Germans want to take all of Santa Vittoria's wine with them. The townspeople frantically hide a million bottles in a cave before the arrival of a German army detachment under the command of Sepp Von Prum (Hardy Krüger).

The Germans are given a few thousand bottles, but Von Prum knows there is a lot more. The two very different men engage in a battle of wits. Finally, with time running out, a frustrated Von Prum threatens to shoot Bombolini unless the wine is produced, but no one speaks up. Not being a fanatic, Von Prum leaves without harming the mayor.

Cast

*Anthony Quinn as Italo Bombolini
*Anna Magnani as Rosa Bombolini, his disapproving wife
*Virna Lisi as Caterina Malatesta
*Hardy Krüger as Sepp Von Prum
*Sergio Franchi as Tufa
*Renato Rascel as Babbaluche
*Giancarlo Giannini as Fabio
*Patrizia Valturri as Angela
*Eduardo Ciannelli as Luigi Lunghetti
*Leopoldo Trieste as Vittorini
*Gigi Ballista as Padre Polenta
*Valentina Cortese as Gabriella

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Film Editing (William A. Lyon and Earle Herdan) and Best Music Score (Ernest Gold).

The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Comedy and was nominated for Best Director (Stanley Kramer), Best Actor Comedy (Anthony Quinn), Best Actress Comedy (Anna Magnani), Best Original Score (Ernest Gold) and Best Original Song (Ernest Gold and Norman Gimbel)

External links

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