Italian Film Festival 2009

Described as the most beautiful woman in the world after Greta Garbo, Alida Valli was adopted as her nation's sweetheart. This strand celebrates her seven-decade career.

View other Italian Film Festival Films by strand: Documentaries, Nuovo Cinema, Panorama, Shorts

Suspiria Suspiria
Suspiria and The Third Man
All About Alida Valli (Country: 2008; Director: Pierpaulo De Mejo)
Documentary uses the words of her unpublished autobiography to build a picture of the star.
Old-Fashioned World (Piccolo mondo antico) (Country: Italy; Year: 1941; Director: Mario Soldati; Writer: Antonio Fogazzaro, Mario Bonfantini, Emilio Cecchi, Alberto Lattuada, Mario Soldati; Stars: Alida Valli, Massimo Serato, Ada Dondini, Annibale Betrone, Mariù Pascoli, Giacinto Molteni, Elvira Bonecchi, Enzo Biliotti, Renato Cialente, Adele Garavaglia)
Drama examines social prejudice in 19th Century Lombardy, focussing on a married couple from different classes.
The Paradine Case (Country: US; Year: 1947; Director: Alfred Hitchcock; Writer: Robert Hichens, Alma Reville, David O.Selznick, Ben Hecht, James Bridie; Stars: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore, Louis Jourdan, Alida Valli, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Tetzel, Isobel Elsom)
A lawyer falls under the spell of a beautiful client accused of murdering her older, blind husband.
Senso (Livia, The Wanton Countess) (Country: Italy; Year: 1954; Director: Luchino Visconti; Writer: Camillo Boito, Luchino Visconti; Stars: Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Heinz Moog, Rina Morelli, Christian Marquand, Sergio Fantoni, Tino Bianchi, Ernst Nadherny, Tonio Selwart, Marcella Mariani, Massimo Girotti)
Self-destructive period romance.
Spider's Strategem (Strategia del ragno) (Country: Italy; Year: 1970; Director: Bernardo Bertolucci; Writer: Jorge Luis Borges, Bernardo Bertolucci, Eduardo de Gregorio, Marilù Parolini; Stars: Giulio Brogi, Alida Valli, Pippo Campanini, Franco Giovanelli, Tino Scotti, Allen Midgette)
The son of an anti-fascist hero, returns home to find out the truth behind his assassination.
Suspiria (Dario Argento's Suspiria) (Country: Italy; Year: 1977; Director: Dario Argento; Writer: Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi; Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Alida Valli, Udo Kier)
A young ballet dancer uncovers a sinister conspiracy in this masterpiece of surrealist horror.
The Third Man (Country: UK; Year: 1949; Director: Carol Reed; Writer: Graham Greene, Alexander Korda, Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Orson Welles; Stars: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Paul Hörbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Siegfried Breuer, Erich Ponto, Wilfrid Hyde-White)
A man searching for his missing friend in post-war Vienna uncovers a ruthless conspiracy.
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