Shoeshine [Sciuscià] ***** (1946, Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Annielo Mele) – Classic Movie Review 8450

Director Vittorio De Sica’s 1946 Shoeshine [Sciuscià] is an exquisitely made, deeply moving early Italian neo-realist world cinema classic set in post-World War Two, post-Facsist Rome. There two deprived, hungry and homeless shoeshine boys (Franco Interlenghi as the orphan Pasquale, Rinaldo Smordoni as his younger friend Giuseppe) battle poverty and struggle for their existence by selling black market goods, and end up in an overcrowded boys’ prison.

Director De Sica rightly won great international acclaim with his sharp, unsentimental, heart-breaking account of poverty, shot with a cast of non-professional actors in masterly documentary fashion, achieving the right harsh tone and look of gritty realism, with Anchise Brizzi shooting in black and white.

Shoeshine [Sciuscià] is the winner of a special Honorary Award Oscar on the first occasion that the Academy Awards recognised a foreign-language film: ‘The high quality of this Italian-made motion picture, brought to eloquent life in a country scarred by war, is a proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity.’ It was also an Oscar nominee for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Cesare Zavattini, Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci and Cesare Giulio Viola.

Also in the cast are Alessandro Cicognini, Annielo Mele, Bruno Ortensi, Emilio Cigoli, Pacifico Astrologo, Francesco de Nicola, Antonio Carlino, Enrico De Silva, Antonio Lo Nigro, Angelo D’Amico and Giuseppe Spadaro.

Shoeshine [Sciuscià] is directed by Vittorio De Sica, runs 93 minutes, is made by CG Entertainment, and Societa Cooperativa Alfa Cinematografica, is released by Ente Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche (ENIC) (1946) (Italy) and Lopert Pictures Corporation (1947) (US), is written by Cesare Zavattini, Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci, Cesare Giulio Viola and Vittorio De Sica, based on a story by Cesare Zavattini, is shot in black and white by Anchise Brizzi, is produced by Paolo W Tamburella and is scored by Alessandro Cicognini.

Franco Interlenghi (1931–2015) had a long and illustrious film career.

Rinaldo Smordoni was born on February 5, 1933 in Rome, but disappeared as an actor after Fabiola (1949).

Vittorio De Sica is also known for The Children Are Watching Us (1944), Bicycle Thieves (1948), Miracle in Milan (1951), Umberto D (1952), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) and his final film A Brief Vacation (1973).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8450

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