Giuseppe De Santis

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder. (imdb)

The story of five girls who are among the 200 women who answer a want ad for a modest secretarial position one rainy morning in Rome in 1951. They crowd and push their way into the old building and fight their way up the stairs to await an interview, only to be told there is not enough time to interview all. A scuffle breaks out and the stairway collapses sending many of them hurtling down in a mass of bodies amid brick and mortar. How the event changes or fails to change their lives is told. (imdb)

Chronicle of the unheralded and unsuccessful invasion of the Soviet Union by the Italian army during World War II. (imdb)

The shepherd Francesco Dominici (Raf Vallone) returns home after three years fighting in the war to find that his flock had been stolen by local big-shot Agostino Bonfiglio (Folco Lulli).

A rare moment from film history, Days of Glory (Giorni di Gloria) documents the experience of the German occupation of Rome and the Italian resistance during World War II. It depicts various key episodes from September 1943 until the liberation of the North in 1945. Visconti had eight cameras put at his service to cover the trial of Fascist Pietro Caruso. (National Gallery of Art)

The plot concerns a joint, voluntary effort between Italy and Yugoslavia to construct a highway along the countries. Naturally, this animosity wreaks havoc on the various Romeo-Juliet romances in the region. All is resolved when oil is discovered on one of the islands. An American oil company is finally able to establish détente between the warring factions, smoothing the path for the long-delayed marriages of three young couples. (Hal Erickson)

In Vischio, little Abruzzo's village, the "lupari", professional wolfers, get together to make a hunt of wolves. It's a bonus amountig to 20.000 liras for each wolf killed. Giovanni, very able hunter, comes to Vischio with his beautiful wife, Teresa, and his young friend, Ricuccio. But, during the hunt, Giovanni is killed. Ricuccio, who prefers to follow up the women instead the wolves, pities of Teresa's tragedy and starts to court her... (KG)

Anna Zaccheo (Silvana Pampanini) is desperate for true love. Alas, Anna is so gorgeous that true love is the last thing most men have on their minds. She manages to get by with the help of several wealthy male friends, until finally she meets the man of her dreams -- a poverty-stricken sailor (Massimo Girotti). (hollywood.com)

After the end of the War in '45, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, a cooperative has been founded by peasants. War has destroyed the country....The story takes a romantic detour by concentrating on the romance between two young people caught in the middle between the pursuers and the pursued. (KG)

This film has many similarities to De Santis' own Riso amaro, but it is in color, and the splendor of the Italian countryside is wonderful to behold, as are the charms of Marina Vlady and Marcello Mastroianni in the central parts. (KG)