Mussolini and I
| Mussolini and I | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover of Mussolini and I | |
| Written by | Alberto Negrin Nicola Badalucco |
| Directed by | Alberto Negrin |
| Starring | Bob Hoskins Anthony Hopkins Susan Sarandon |
| Theme music composer | Egisto Macchi |
| Country of origin | Italy France West Germany Switzerland Spain United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Mario Gallo Enzo Guilioli |
| Editors | Roberto Perpignani Egisto Macchi |
| Running time | 130 mins. (original) 240 mins. (extended) |
| Production company | HBO Premiere Films |
| Distributor | HBO RAI |
| Release | |
| Original network | Rai Uno HBO |
| Original release | 15 April 1985 |
Mussolini and I (alternately titled Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce) is a 1985 made-for-television docudrama film directed by Alberto Negrin. It chronicles the strained relationship between Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and his son-in-law and foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, based on Ciano's diaries. Made in English as an Italian-French-German-Swiss-Spanish-US co-production, with Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins and Susan Sarandon in the leading roles, it first aired on Rai Uno on 15 April 1985 in a 130-minute version. On 8 September 1985, it premiered in the USA on HBO in an extended four-hour version.
All filming was done in Italy; including northern Italy's Gargnano, Merano, Bolzano, Verona, and in central Italy, Rome and L'Aquila. Filming was also done at the well known Villa Torlonia and Palazzo Venezia. It was released on a 2 disc DVD in August 2003. It is divided into four segments for a total of 240 minutes and was released by Koch Entertainment.
Plot[]
The film starts just before World War II and shows the political and personal side of Benito Mussolini's fall from power and his death and the end of the war. It delves into his relationship with his son in-law, daughter, wife, mistress, and Hitler.
Cast[]
- Bob Hoskins as Benito Mussolini, dictator of Fascist Italy
- Susan Sarandon as Edda Ciano, Mussolini's daughter
- Anthony Hopkins as Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law
- Annie Girardot as Rachele Mussolini, Mussolini's wife
- Barbara De Rossi as Claretta Petacci, Mussolini's mistress
- Massimo Dapporto as Vittorio Mussolini, Mussolini's son
- Vittorio Mezzogiorno as Alessandro Pavolini, friend of Galeazzo's and leader of the Republican Fascist Party
- Kurt Raab as Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany
- Marne Maitland as King Victor Emmanuel III
- as Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of the Third Reich
- as Karl Wolff, Military Governor and Supreme SS and Police Leader of Northern Italy
- as Otto Skorzeny, led Operation Oak to rescue Mussolini from Campo Imperatore
- Dietlinde Turban as Frau Beetz, born as Hildegard Burkhardt: she was a German intelligence agent who visited Galeazzo in prison and tried to help him
- Ted Rusoff as Francesco Saverio Nitti
- as Giuseppe Castellano
- as Enzo Galbiati
- Stefano De Sando as Dino Grandi
- as Carlo Scorza
- as Giuseppe Bottai
- as Emilio De Bono
- Piero Palermini as Roberto Farinacci
- as Giacomo Suardo
- as Giovanni Marinelli
- as Major Otto-Harald Mors
External links[]
- Mussolini and I at IMDb
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- 1985 films
- 1985 television films
- 1980s biographical films
- 1980s historical films
- Italian biographical films
- Italian historical films
- Italian films
- Italian television films
- English-language Italian films
- English-language films
- English-language television shows
- Films directed by Alberto Negrin
- Films about Benito Mussolini
- Biographical television films
- World War II television drama series
- World War II films based on actual events
- Biographical film stubs