1969 | PG-13 | 2h 19m | Comedy, Drama, War
World War II had reached a feverish pitch in 1943 as Axis forces continued to lose ground to the Allies. By the summer, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had been deposed and much of Italy celebrated the removal of “Il Duce.” However serious these global events may have been, director Stanley Kramer was able to make a mostly light-hearted comedy set during that tumultuous period—a film about wine, dancing (and stumbling), and the survival of an entire village—in his 1969 film “The Secret of Santa Vittoria.”
The quaint hilly Italian village of Santa Vittoria learns of the good news of Mussolini’s departure when one of their own, young Fabio (Giancarlo Giannini) announces it on the piazza. One of Fabio’s friends, the village idiot and raging alcoholic Bombolini (Anthony Quinn) attempts to celebrate at home with some of his boozing buddies, including Fabio and another chum, Babbaluche (Renato Rascel)….