Pietro Germi C/D, S/D?

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Based on Divorce, Italian Style and the first half-hour of Seduced And Abandoned and, maybe most of all, the hilarious documentary about him that comes with Divorce called The Man With A Cigar In His Mouth, I say classic. In that doc, there is moment where Germi is described by Billy Wilder as "the Italian direct I feel closest to," but think the Billy Wilder of A Foreign Affair, where the crowd-pleasing mandate is tempered with knowing old-world cynicism. In his wicked social skewering of his characters, he reminds me of none other than Buñuel, at least in his Spanish-language films.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 02:33 (nineteen years ago)

And unless Giraloma Savanarola pursuades me otherwise, after I finish with Seduced And Abandoned, I'm gonna get me a copy of The Railroad Man.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 02:36 (nineteen years ago)

These films have also given me a growing appreciation for Stefania Sandrelli.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 03:34 (nineteen years ago)

Ok, The Railroad Man is a keeper too, in a completely different style- kitchen-sink melodrama. And Germi's not only the director- he's the star!

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 02:04 (nineteen years ago)

Looks like there is something at MOMA tonight, some kind of policier. He seems to have been pretty versatile, which I think was yet another reason he was "too Hollywood" for the Italian critics.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

OK, it was Un Maledetto Imbroglio aka The Facts Of Murder, one of Claudia Cardinale's first films. The story is a little hard to follow, but there are some memorable sequences and acting, especially from Germi himself. He's got a great screen presence, a great stony slightly smiling face that at first seems too crooked for a leading man- when Mrs. L first saw him with the white hair in Il Ferroviere she referred to him as "Larry Tate"- except that it is sitting on Kirk Douglas-size shoulders.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Thursday, 1 June 2006 12:54 (nineteen years ago)

Man, I wish I could go back in time to 1999 and go to that Walter Reade retrospective.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Thursday, 1 June 2006 13:09 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

The DVD of Seduced and Abandoned is great, although not too many extras, probably since they put most of them on Divorce, Italian Style, although the short interviews with two of the actors are very good and Stefania Sandrelli's screentest is must-see. In the comedies he is kind of an Italian Preston Sturges, with his casting and highlighting of extras and his clever use of silent film technique, Saro Urzì being his Akim Tamiroff.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 28 October 2007 23:18 (eighteen years ago)

Well, well, well

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 23:33 (eighteen years ago)

I don't recall seeing any of his, including Divorce.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 November 2007 13:45 (eighteen years ago)

There is an argument to be made that that is Marcello Mastroianni's best performance.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 2 November 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

I bleeve I go to The Way of Hope tnite

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:47 (eighteen years ago)

I have no experience with Germi, so you're on your own here. (And I suspect if you've waited for me this long, you'll have gotten around to it anyway by now.)

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 6 November 2007 01:35 (eighteen years ago)

Sorry, Girolamo, I don't usually wait on you before taking action. I've been, um, burned before.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 6 November 2007 02:52 (eighteen years ago)

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