Marie Antoinette (1938) Review: The Good, The Bad & How to Watch

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  Marie Antoinette (1938) Review: The Good, The Bad & How to Watch  American Film, Drama, History Venice Film Festival, 1938- Winner: Best Actress Academy Awards, 1939- 4 nominations including: Best Actress in a Leading Role When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer poured an astronomical budget into bringing the doomed French queen to the silver screen in nineteen thirty-eight, Hollywood was not merely making a movie; it was constructing an entire vanished world. Directed primarily by W. S. Van Dyke, Marie Antoinette stands today as one of the ultimate monuments to the golden age of American cinema, a sprawling historical epic that blends lavish romance with the looming terror of the French Revolution.  More on Wikipedia or Mubi  Cinematic Splendor and Tragedy in Hollywood's 1938 Marie Antoinette  At the heart of the production is Norma Shearer, reigning royalty of the studio lot and widow of legendary producer Irving Thalberg, who had passionately championed the pr...
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Watch Il Cappotto (1952)

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 Il Capotto (1952)
Italian Film, Fantasy, Drama
English title: The Overcoat

Official Selection

The Overcoat (Italian: Il Cappotto) is a 1952 Italian fantasy-drama film directed by Alberto Lattuada. It stars Renato Rascel and is a modern-day version, set in Italy, of the same-named 1842 short tale by Nikolai Gogol. The director's sister, Bianca Lattuada, was one of the production managers and his father, Felice Lattuada, composed the music.

It was shot at the Farnesina Studios of Titanus in Rome with sets designed by the art director Gianni Polidori. Location shooting took place in Pavia in Lombardy.Special Nastro d'Argento to Renato Rascel for the creation of the leading character. The film premiered at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.

Based on Nikolai Gogol's story with the location changed from Russia to Italy and the time changed to the present (1952), the story is about a poor city-hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose only desire is for a new overcoat. The town Mayor (Giulio Stival) is planning a reception for some visiting VIP's in honor of a new, wasteful piece of construction. The clerk bungles his assignment and is fired. But he stumbles onto some bribery concerning the architects and, to keep him quiet, he's given his job back plus a bonus. He buys his long-cherished overcoat, and it makes him so presentable he wins newly-found respect from everybody. But his coat is stolen and the bitter weather causes him to contact a fever and he dies. His funeral upsets the Mayor's reception when he returns as a ghost. More on Wikipedia or Mubi 

Cannes Film Festival, 1952- Official Selection
Locarno International Film Festival, 2021- Selezione ufficiale
National Board of Review, 1965 & 1966- Vincitore: Top Foreign Films, Vincitore: Top Foreign Films

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Full Film (English subtitle)
 

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