Colpo gobbo all'italiana

Colpo gobbo all'italiana
Film poster
Directed byLucio Fulci
Screenplay by
Story byMario Carotenuto[1]
CinematographyAlfio Contini[1]
Edited byFranco Fraticelli[1]
Music byPiero Umiliani[1]
Production
companies
  • Mirafilm
  • Marcus Produzione Cinematografica
Release dates
  • March 28, 1962 (1962-03-28) (Turin & Bari)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryItaly
Box officeITL 116.630 million

Colpo gobbo all'italiana (lit.'Smart Move Italian-Style') is a 1962 Italian comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci.[2]

Plot

Cast

Production

Colpo gobbo all'italiana was a production of two Italian film production companies: Mirafilm and Marcus Produzione Cinematografica. It was directed by Lucio Fulci.[3] While Fulci biographer Stephen Thrower's book Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (2018) only credits Bruno Corbucci and Giovanni Grimaldi for the screenplay, ANICA includes Beppe Costa.[1][3] The film was previously known as La nottola in bicicletta (lit.'The Night Owl on a Bicycle' before its release.[4] The film's opening features a song titled "La Nottola di notte" (lit.'The Owl of the Night') performed and written by Gianni Meccia.[2]

The title Colpo gobbo all'italiana combines the names of two other works: Colpo gobbo is an Italian title for the Mickey Spillane's novel The Big Kill (1951) while "all'italiania" borrows from the popular film Divorce Italian Style (1961).[5]

Mario Carotenuto was a prolific actor in comedy films of the period in Italy, who previously had appeared in Fulci's earlier films Ragazzi del Juke-Box (1959) and Urlatori alla sbarra (1960).[6] Carotenuto, who had written the story and also served as producer, clashed with Fulci over changes to the script; after filming wrapped, Fulci ended his friendship with him, and the two never worked together again.[7]

Thrower said that the film could be describe as Fulci's contribution to the "oft-reviled" pink neorealism genre of Italian cinema.[2]

Release and reception

Colpo gobbo all'italiana was distributed in Italy by Mirafilm released to theatres in Turin and Bari May 11, followed by a release in Rome on June 9, 1962.[3] It grossed a total of 116.630 million Italian lire in Italy.[8] The film stayed in theaters through mid-1962 and was still playing in Rome through September. While Dizionario del cinema italiano said the box office in Italy was lower than earlier films like I ladri (1959), a film Fulci described as a financial flop.[2]

It had a 100-minute runtime on its theatrical release in Italy and a 90-minute runtime in Spain when it played in Barcelona and Seville as La rubia tuvo la culpa in 1965.[3]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e ANICA.
  2. ^ a b c d Thrower 2018, p. 61.
  3. ^ a b c d Thrower 2018, p. 60.
  4. ^ B.C. 1962, p. 12.
  5. ^ Thrower 2018, p. 105.
  6. ^ Thrower 2018, p. 59.
  7. ^ Garofalo, Marcello (September 2002). "Il cinema del dubbio: Intervista a Lucio Fulci". Nocturno Dossier: L'opera al nero. 3: 13.
  8. ^ Grainger & Thrower 2002, p. 273.

Sources

  • "Colpo gobbo all'italiana (1962)" (in Italian). ANICA. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
  • B.C. (April 9–10, 1962). "Carotenuto cerca di scoprire il vero volto della Roma notturna" [Carotenuto tries to discover the true face of Rome at night]. Stampa Sera (in Italian). Italy.
  • Grainger, Julian; Thrower, Stephen (2002) [May 1999]. "The Films of Lucio Fulci". Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (2nd ed.). England, United Kingdom: Fab Press (published December 2002). ISBN 0-9529260-6-7.
  • Thrower, Stephen (2018) [May 1999]. Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (Revised & Expanded Second ed.). England, United Kingdom: Fab Press (published February 2018). ISBN 978-1-903254-90-5.