A Day in Court

A Day in Court (Italian: Un giorno in pretura) is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Steno and starring Peppino De Filippo, Silvana Pampanini, and Alberto Sordi. Lucio Fulci and Paolo Heusch were assistant directors. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[2] It took in around 473 million lire at the Italian box office.[3] A young Lucio Fulci originated the idea and format for this film, and then helped to write the screenplay and assist Steno in directing it, making it the largest screen credit in his career up to this point.[4]

A Day in Court
Film poster
Directed bySteno
Produced byGianni Hecht Lucari
Dino De Laurentiis
Carlo Ponti[1]
Written bySandro Continenza
Lucio Fulci
Steno
StarringPeppino De Filippo
Silvana Pampanini
Alberto Sordi
Sophia Loren
Music byArmando Trovajoli
CinematographyMarco Scarpelli
Edited byGiuliana Attenni
Production
company
Documento Film
Excelsa Film
Distributed byMinerva Film
Release date
  • 28 January 1954 (1954-01-28)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

Critics said the film was carried by the versatile acting of Peppino De Filippo, who was convinced to become a comedian by the Italian actor Totò. Alberto Sordi's character of Nando Moriconi became so popular, he reprised the role in several later Italian comedies, such as An American in Rome (1954), without ever sharing the credit with Fulci. Fulci always took credit for creating the Nando Moriconi character, although Alberto Sordi said it was his portrayal of the character that made it so popular. Fulci said that in post production, producer Carlo Ponti almost cut the segment out for time constraints, but Ponti's wife Silvana Mangano made him leave it in. The film made a fortune as a result, according to Fulci, and helped launch Sordi's comedy career.[5]

Plot

The film is an anthology composed of four separate court cases all being heard by Magistrate Lorusso in his courtroom in Rome. The four stories all involve bawdy incidents, with titillating chapter titles such as The Priest and the Prostitute", "The Lustful Lieutenant" etc.

A woman named Elena brings charges against her own husband, but gets humiliated when he produces pornographic films which he took of her without her knowledge. A priest named Don Michele claims to have been assaulted by a prostitute he patronized and beaten up by her pimp, foreshadowing Fulci's later ambivalant views of the Catholic Church. A crude bully named Moriconi is accused of public nudity after his clothes are stolen by kids at a local swimming hole, and in the fourth segment, an accused prostitute reveals she has had a lascivious relationship with the Magistrate himself, exposing the judge as a hypocrite.

Cast
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References
  1. Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.
  2. "Italian Comedy - The State of Things". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  3. Chiti & Poppi p.172
  4. Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.
  5. Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and his Films. Midnight Marquee Press. page 30.

Bibliography
  • Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959. Gremese Editore, 1991.
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