The Secret of Santa Vittoria [VHS]
starring: Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Hardy Krüger, Sergio Franchi
directed by: Stanley Kramer
directed by: Stanley Kramer
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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 Krüger) 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 Krüger 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. Fennessy
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 Krüger) 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 Krüger 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. Fennessy
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Sleeper!
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.
Rating: - Secret of Santa Vittoria
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 ... Read More
Rating: 
- "What kind of people ARE you?"
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, especiallyAnthony Quinn in a happy-to-lucky role similar to his in Zorba the Greek with the ... Read More
Rating: - tragi-comedic gem
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.
Rating: - Bravo! Bella!
"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 ... Read More
- Sleeper!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.
- Secret of Santa VittoriaThis 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 ... Read More
- "What kind of people ARE you?"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, especiallyAnthony Quinn in a happy-to-lucky role similar to his in Zorba the Greek with the ... Read More
- tragi-comedic gemThe 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.
- Bravo! Bella!"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 ... Read More
