The Firemen of Viggiù

1950 film

16 April 1949 (1949-04-16)

Running time

84 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

The Firemen of Viggiù (Italian: I pompieri di Viggiù) is a 1949 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Nino Taranto.^[1]

Plot

In the village of Viggiù, the men of the local volunteer fire brigade, believing their famous song "The Firemen of Viggiù" a resounding success, organize various skits and performances in their theater, inviting all the celebrities known at that time.

Totò is a playboy who falls for the wife of a seller of textiles. The woman is calling her friend, telling her of his secret admirer, calling him "not exactly an Adonis" but feeling some kind of admiration for him. Totò brazenly enters the store and begins to woo the wife, but soon comes her husband, who is afraid to go bankrupt. Totò pretends to be a store mannequin, while the man takes his wife away. Then the husband sits to invoke the soul of the father, hoping that he can give him some advice, but suddenly loses his temper and begins to kick the mannequins, stopping before Totò. At one point, Totò moves once accidentally and the man takes it as a sign from his father and begins to talk to the mannequin. Totò then pretends to be the soul of the father, and asks for fabrics, jackets, and finally a kiss to his wife. After the sketch Totò reappears towards the end of the film where he directs the band and then concludes with the number "Fanfare of Sharpshooters".

In other media

This skit is shown in the film Cinema Paradiso directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.

Cast

Nino Taranto as himself
Totò as himself
Wanda Osiris as herself
Carlo Dapporto as himself
Isa Barzizza as actress playing Totò's conquest in the revue
Mario Castellani as actor playing the jealous husband in the revue
Ariodante Dalla as himself
Carlo Campanini as the leader of the firemen
Ave Ninchi as Gaetana, his wife
Silvana Pampanini as Fiamma, their daughter, actress in the revue
Dante Maggio as fireman
Carlo Croccolo as fireman
Ughetto Bertucci as fireman
Laura Gore as soubrette playing as Pomponia in the revue

References

^ Hal Erickson (2011). "New York Times: The Firemen of Viggiù". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2008.