Author: Alberto Anile (edited by)

Year: 2018

Pages: 164

Publisher: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia; Iacobelli

ISBN: 9788862524009

Series: Quaderni della Cineteca nazionale. Nuova serie ; 9

Description

Two directors, Steno and Monicelli, two great showmen, Totò and Fabrizi, two producers, Ponti and De Laurentis. Two production projects. And two versions of the movie: on one side, the film we all know, which was released in cinemas at the time, on the other side, the version which has been preserved in the archives of the Cineteca Nazionale, whose differences highlight the grotesque, months-long clash between the production and the Direzione Generale dello Spettacolo (General Directorate of Entertainment). Using the discovery of this version as a starting point, Alberto Anile analyses the creative, productive and censorious development of a major masterpiece of Italian cinematography. He examines Guardie e ladri from the original idea up to the philological juxtaposition of the two versions, uncovering small and great behind-the-scenes anecdotes of a “twofold” opus which blends humour and bitterness, rebelliousness and detachment.