Men disguised as monks hide in a convent: seen in the opening scenes, the exteriors are those of the former hospital annexed to the Church of St John Baptist dei Genovesi in via Anicia in the Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome. Here Professor Erminio Bonafè (George Wilson) decides to return to his home, despite many warnings, only to realise, in time, that the Fascists are conducting a sweep of his building in via dei Fienili. To evade arrest, he hides in a “brothel” in nearby via dei Foraggi.
Enrolled in the regime’s militia, Primo Arcovazzi (Ugo Tognazzi) is carrying out exercises at the command centre, between viale Castrense and piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with the Aurelian walls in the background, near the present-day Infantry History Museum.
Arcovazzi is given the task of going to Villalago in Abruzzo to retrieve the escaped professor. However, the production actually shot in Lazio, using the Castel San Pietro Romano area, approx. 35km south east of Rome, for the village in Abruzzo. Here, in piazza San Pietro, Arcovazzi and his prisoner in the sidecar are confronted by a group of apparently furious villagers. The scene where the motorcycle and sidecar descend the hairpin bends was shot on the Provincial Road 58a/SP58a that leads from Castel San Pietro to Palestrina.
On the journey to Rome, Arcovazzo takes his prisoner to the Casa del Fascio, a building in piazza Tommaso Frasconi, Genzano di Roma, and continues on to ask for hospitality from the family of his mentor, Arcangelo Baldacci: they go to piazza Umberto in Giulianello di Cori (LT).
After several adventures, the two men finally reach Rome which has been liberated by the Allies in the meantime. They first meet a platoon of American soldiers who take a photo: the two men are in via Angelo Bellani between Trastevere and Testaccio. A group from the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale attempts to lynch Arcovazzi beneath a wall in nearby via degli Stradivari.
The film ends with a panoramic view of Rome, shot from lungotevere degli Artigiani with buildings in Testaccio on the horizon.
Men disguised as monks hide in a convent: seen in the opening scenes, the exteriors are those of the former hospital annexed to the Church of St John Baptist dei Genovesi in via Anicia in the Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome. Here Professor Erminio Bonafè (George Wilson) decides to return to his home, despite many warnings, only to realise, in time, that the Fascists are conducting a sweep of his building in via dei Fienili. To evade arrest, he hides in a “brothel” in nearby via dei Foraggi.
Enrolled in the regime’s militia, Primo Arcovazzi (Ugo Tognazzi) is carrying out exercises at the command centre, between viale Castrense and piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with the Aurelian walls in the background, near the present-day Infantry History Museum.
Arcovazzi is given the task of going to Villalago in Abruzzo to retrieve the escaped professor. However, the production actually shot in Lazio, using the Castel San Pietro Romano area, approx. 35km south east of Rome, for the village in Abruzzo. Here, in piazza San Pietro, Arcovazzi and his prisoner in the sidecar are confronted by a group of apparently furious villagers. The scene where the motorcycle and sidecar descend the hairpin bends was shot on the Provincial Road 58a/SP58a that leads from Castel San Pietro to Palestrina.
On the journey to Rome, Arcovazzo takes his prisoner to the Casa del Fascio, a building in piazza Tommaso Frasconi, Genzano di Roma, and continues on to ask for hospitality from the family of his mentor, Arcangelo Baldacci: they go to piazza Umberto in Giulianello di Cori (LT).
After several adventures, the two men finally reach Rome which has been liberated by the Allies in the meantime. They first meet a platoon of American soldiers who take a photo: the two men are in via Angelo Bellani between Trastevere and Testaccio. A group from the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale attempts to lynch Arcovazzi beneath a wall in nearby via degli Stradivari.
The film ends with a panoramic view of Rome, shot from lungotevere degli Artigiani with buildings in Testaccio on the horizon.
Copyright: ©Archivio fotografico Cineteca Nazionale, Roma. Selezione a cura di: Valentina Contessi, Elisabetta Chiarotti, Alessandro Andreini
Ugo Tognazzi – Castel San Pietro Romano (RM)
Copyright: ©Archivio fotografico Cineteca Nazionale, Roma. Selezione a cura di: Valentina Contessi, Elisabetta Chiarotti, Alessandro Andreini
Mireille Granelli, Ugo Tognazzi – Giulianello di Cori (LT)
D.D.L.
Rome 1944. A few days before Liberation, Primo Arcovazzi, a zealous and fanatical member of the Fascist militia, is charged with retrieving the anti-Fascist professor Erminio Bonafè in Abruzzo and bringing him to Rome. The reward for the successful mission is promotion to Federale.
