The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

Actors: Marco Tulli (actor), Anthony Quinn (actor), Renato Rascel (actor), Leopoldo Trieste (actor), Curt Lowens (actor), Renato Chiantoni (actor), Eduardo Ciannelli (actor), Luigi Bonos (actor), Francesco Mulé (actor), Pino Ferrara (actor), Gigi Ballista (actor), Giancarlo Giannini (actor), Wolfgang Jansen (actor), Hardy Krüger (actor), Valentina Cortese (actress),

Plot: Bombolini is a fairly worthless drunk in the small Italian town of Santa Vittoria in the closing days of World War II. When word comes that the Fascist government has surrendered, he climbs a water tower to tear down the flag. He can't get down and someone gets the crowd to chant his name to give him confidence. The Fascist town council hears this and believes that he is the town's new leader. They surrender to him and make him the new mayor. He rises to the occasion and when he finds that the Germans plan to occupy his town and take their wine (over a million bottles) he works out a plan to hide it.

Keywords: 1940s, based-on-novel, bottle, city-hall, drunkenness, dysfunctional-marriage, fascism, german-army, historical-event, italian-fascism
Genres: Comedy, Drama, War,
Taglines: In the beginning there was Bombolini the fool, Bombolini the drunk, Bombolini the joke. In the end there was Bombolini the mayor, Bombolini the hero, Bombolini the beautiful. In between is the secret of Santa Vittoria.

Quotes:

Italo Bombolini: "Mathematically"! If I only had a mind like his. *Math-ay-mat-tee-cally*!

Italo Bombolini: It's nice to have a hot meal before you die.::Rosa Bombolini: You aren't going to die.::Italo Bombolini: I'm the mayor, no? The Germans come. I greet them. They threaten me! I spit in their face! They put a pistol to my head and blow out my brains!::Rosa Bombolini: Why would they put a pistol to your head? The whole world knows Bombolini's brains are in his ass.

[the Fascist members of the Santa Vittoria town council are being held prisoner in the church bell tower. The priest brings them a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine]::Francucci: It's criminal! You keep us locked up! We don't get enough food! You tell us nothing! There's not even a toilet!::Priest: Next time, vote Communist!

[Young Fabio has been caught making love to Bombolini's daughter, Angela]::Italo Bombolini: I'm going to punish that boy so that he remembers it for the rest of his life.::[In the next scene, Fabio and Angela leave the church, having just been married]

Italo Bombolini: [the town council wants to resist German occupation] Every Santa Vittorian has known for the last thousand years: brave men and good wine - they don't last long.

Priest: [Bombolini wants the priest to pray for the rain to stop while the villagers move the wine] Nobody ever prays for sun, they only pray for rain.::Babbaluche: In Noah's ark people prayed for rain?::Priest: That was before organised religion.::Babbaluche: Sure, all they had was God, the poor bastards.

Italo Bombolini: [Repeated line] There is no wine.

Benito Mussolini: [written on the wall in the village] "It is better to live a day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep. Benito Mussolini"::Italo Bombolini: [written underneath it] "It is better to live 100 years. Italo Bombalini"