The Seventh Art

On February 24th it will be 12 years since Alberto Sordi, one of the greatest if not the greatest Italian comedic actor, passed away due to heart attack. His career spanned seven decades, starting at the end of thirties until …

It’s always a big deal for the film industry when an artist gets recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but the event becomes particularly important for the Italian-American community as well when said artist has a …

Sometimes we are too prone to think that countries like Italy, rich in artistic, historical, natural, and culinary traditions, barely need any promotion as tourist destinations. Thanks to its stunning landscapes, fascinating lifestyle, and quality manufacturing, Italy is also supposed …

Every year in early January, the Palm Springs International Film Festival kicks off the award season that leads to the world famous Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Over the last two decades, the Festival has grown in terms of popularity …

De Niro.  He is recognized as one of the most successful Italian Americans in the world today, with a set of unmistakably dark inky eyes, which convey everything from calm murderous rage to pure tenderness.     The actor, who …

One of the objects of this column is to explore the Italian ethnicity of actors and filmmakers when their heritage doesn’t appear obvious at a first glance. An Italian last name is always a giveaway but there are often cases …

“Oh, it’s not hard to die well. It’s hard to live well.” These are the famous words pronounced by the priest Don Pietro Pellegrini (played by Aldo Fabrizi) at the end of Roberto Rossellini’s “Roma città aperta” (“Rome Open City”), …

It’s generally agreed that the most popular Italian-American in Hollywood were from the seventies and the eighties. That’s because they were often first generation from immigrant parents and the link to their roots still very well regarded in their life. …

There’s been a lot of Oscar buzz for Nightcrawler, in particular for the daunting performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, but the movie also marks Rene Russo’s return to the big screen after a long hiatus, broken only briefly to play Thor’s …

In Hollywood there are movie stars and then there are working actors; hard working people that just never became a household name. More often than not those are very well connected in the industry and well respected by their peers. …