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ACTOR
Anthony QuinnAnna MagnaniVirna LisiHardy Krüger
DIRECTOR
Stanley Kramer
SYNOPSICS
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) is a English,Italian,German movie. Stanley Kramer has directed this movie. Anthony Quinn,Anna Magnani,Virna Lisi,Hardy Krüger are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1969. The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) is considered one of the best Comedy,Drama,War movie in India and around the world.
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The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) Reviews
'What kind of people are you?'
When Fabio (Giancarlo Giannini) came screaming Mussolini's death, the villagers of Santa Vittoria were quiet indifferent... But when he returned much later shouting that the Germans are coming to take the wine of Santa Vittoria, this was different! It was the beginning of an amazing adventure... Italo Bombolini (Anthony Quinn), is the beloved mayor of the hillside village of Santa Vittorio... He is in terrible crisis... Where to hide his precious wine? l,317,000 bottles more or less... Tufa (Sergio Franchi), who has deserted the crumbling Italian army and has returned home in despair, recommends him to conceal a million bottles of wine in the tunnels of an old Roman cave outside of Santa Vittoria, and to hide them in such a way, that "if" the Germans enter the cave looking for the wine, 'they will see an empty cave!' Rosa (Anna Magnani) enlists the entire town for that purpose... When German commander Sepp Von Prum (Hardy Kruger) arrives, it becomes a battle of wits for the possession of the wine... Von Prum is distracted in his search by Bombolini's protests of ignorance and by the Contessa's obvious charms... The local Contessa, Caterina Malatesta is played by the exquisite blonde Virna Lisi... The last scene of the film is hilarious! We see the German Officer leaving, and Bombolini a bottle of wine in his hand addressing him: 'To the captain, from the people of Santa Vittoria. It's not a great wine but it's not bad!' The captain receives the bottle whispering to Bombolini: 'You're sure you can spare it?' Bombolini replies: 'Oh, there's one million more where this came from.' You can imagine the face of Hardy Krugerextremely good as the German Captain... Maybe the film is too long... But it is a great joy to see two legendary stars, Quinn and Magnani, dancing with the whole town of Santa Vittoria... Great score... Great fun!
Very good Quinn
I missed the first half hour on Turner last night, but tuned in and was thoroughly entertained. This is top notch Anthony Quinn- he is terrific, and the entire cast is excellent. Looking forward to seeing the entire film now. Unlike another reviewer, I loved his over-the-top reaction to the German Captain's telling him he wanted the village's wine. Hardy Kruger, as the captain, gives a nuanced performance that adds a great deal to the film. One of the great joys of this movie is the Italian location and extras. The economics of contemporary movie making rarely allow for true location shooting anymore, and its too bad. As these films from the 60s and 70s age, they become increasingly valuable as an historical record. This movie also has a wonderful heart- it's a celebration of what makes life worth living. Highly recommended.
Town idiot becomes mayor, Germans invade ... wine at risk
In short there is no other move quite like it. One of those that you might not think to rent, but if you find yourself at the beginning of it, you'll not leave until you see the ending. Quinn is excellent. The nutshell is that The Germans are coming, and the town has lost all of its older boys and men to the Italian army. They're a wine-producing town, and elect the town-fool to be the "mock mayor". The problem is that they need to hide the wine from the Germans, being their only real treasure. From that premise forward, the movie becomes dark and deeply compelling. I believe that these are some of the best performances of the star-studded actors... I recommend it, as one of life's "must see's". (PS: I'm a tough critic, so an "8" for me is just about tops)
"There is No Wine" Says the Town Drunkard/Mayor; Wonderful Underrated Film
The book that this movie is based was one of the biggest best-sellers of the 1960's by the author of "The Great Imposter" (also adapted into a movie starring Tony Curtis). The book was hailed by one critic as giving a sense hope in a crazy world. And that's what this story is about, a kind of modern David and Golliath. Or maybe the town-drunkard-turned-mayor versus Nazi Germany. The village of Santa Vittoria is no Rome. It's just a small town in Italy where the townspeople live very simple lives. They would be almost destitute except for one small commodity they all share: the town makes and exports wonderful wine to all parts of the world. They may not make as much as Mondavi, but it's a good living. Now, it's War World II, and the Germans have infiltrated the town. Not because they love the small-town folk of Santa Vittoria and want to protect them. They want their world-famous wine to help finance the war. But of course, the townspeople are dependent upon the wine for their livelihoods. So Anthony Quinn, perfectly cast as the town drunkard who ends up mayor, comes up with a plan. They give the Germans some of the wine and insist that they have given all the town possesses. Hardy Kruger as the German officer in charge of the operation is unconvinced. They seemed too happy and too willing to give up their wine. He knows the townspeople are hiding more wine, and he will use all means at his disposal to retrieve every last bottle. The cat and mouse game is on! Can a bunch of simple-folk led by their clownish mayor in rural Italy outwit the likes of the German army? I vastly underrated movie that is mostly hilarious from beginning until end. There are a couple of references to torture but mostly it is quite a fun plot. Will Anthony Quinn and the town through sheer determination wear down the stubbornness of Hardy Kruger and the Germans, who seem absolutely relentless in their conviction that more wine exists? And now out on DVD! Please vote for this movie on sites that have influence on DVD releases to get this movie available!
The secret is you found one gem of a movie.
What a movie. The horror of the second world war was that it destroyed millions of normal people's lives throughout the world. This is just one small village in Italy that has survived Mussolini, but now must face the Germans that are coming to take the only thing they have, their wine. The only thing that stands in their way is the town drunk Bombolini (Anthony Quinn in one of his greatest performances). I don't know if this was based on a true story but I hope it was, this small, delightful movies shows why the Germans could never win the war, because no matter how brutal they were they could not take the soul of people. In one of the greatest lines in movie history, the German Captain, (Hardy Kruger in his best role ever), understands all of this when he cries in the end, "What kind of people are you?". This movie is as good as any book could be and seeing the faces of the villagers makes it all the more real.