Totó in color

Totó in color (1952)

Totò a colori

In the first Italian film to be shot in color, Totò portrays a musician named Antonio Scannagatti who strongly hopes to sell his composition, "Epopea italiana", to Tiscordi, who is one of the most important Italian impresarios.

Date of release
1952-04-08
TMDB
7.3 / 10 (89)
Runtime
1h 33m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Steno

Casting

Interesting facts

Toto in Color is a 1952 Italian comedy film, the first Italian color film shot with the Ferraniacolor system. It was directed by Steno and starred the comic actor Totò. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Production

Totò in Color was essentially an anthology of Totò's most famous comedy sketches and mime performances, such as the dancing Pinocchio puppet who collapses as soon as the music ends and the simulated fireworks during the ending scene. According to Steno, directing the film was basically like leaving the movie camera directly in Totò's hands, whose timing had been perfected by many decades of performing the sketches in front of the public.

The movie was shot with the Ferraniacolor system, which required extremely powerful lighting; this was especially painful for Totò – already suffering from long-term eye problems – and is credited for accelerating his loss of vision.

"The Honourable Gentleman in the sleeping car" (Italian: "L'Onorevole in vagone letto") has been called Totò's most famous sketch. It originated in 1947 and after years of performance it expanded until assuming its final iteration in Totò in Color. It was inspired by a real encounter between Totò and Giulio Andreotti who by chance found themselves sharing the same sleeping car.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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