Intermission/Posterized: Dino De Laurentiis 100th
Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 10:40AM Today in showbiz history the famous and sometimes infamous producer Dino de Laurentiis was born in a province of Naples, Italy. We'll take an intermission on our five or six part celebration today but we hope you've enjoyed the write-ups on Bitter Rice (1949) and the Fellini years, the creation of Dinocitta and its famous high-grossing but also-flopping The Bible: In the Beginning (1966), and his early years in America with gritty dramas like Serpico (1973) and Death Wish (1974). We resume tomorrow evening with the much-derided but very successful King Kong (1976) which just so happened to be the film debut of Jessica Lange.
Until then which of these 18 early De Laurentiis' productions have you seen? Do you have a favourite?He produced hundreds of his films in his career, starting at the age of 20, so this is just a small sample of his work in the first 30+ decades of his career...
ACT 1 - the early Italian years
THE BANDIT (1946) an Anna Magnani vehicle
BITTER RICE (1949) his breakout hit with future wife Silvana Mangano
EUROPE '51 (1951) Bergman & Rossellini
LA STRADA (1954) Oscar winning Fellni film
WAR AND PEACE (1956) 3 Oscar nominations
NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957) another Oscar winning Fellini film
ACT 2 - the move to international cinema
BARABBAS (1961) starring Anthony Quinn & Silvana Mangano
THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING (1966) epic flop/hit
THE WITCHES (1967) Silvana Mangano and... Clint Eastwood (!)
BARBARELLA (1968) still beloved today
THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972)
THE SCORPONE GAME (1972) Mangano with Joseph Cotten and Bette Davis!
Act 3 - the move to America
SERPICO (1973)
DEATH WISH (1974)
MANDIGO (1975)
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)
FACE TO FACE (1976) Ingmar Bergman - 2 Oscar nominations
KING KONG (1976)
Reader Comments (4)
What a beauty!
Only 6 of those films so far... Half of which are from the first act.
Only 5, but THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR is an all-time favorite.
It's also International Duran Duran Day coming up on the 10th too!
I've seen 6: The Bible, Barbarella, Serpico, Death Wish, 3 Days of the Condor, and the 70's King Kong.
He also produced several of the lesser schlock Stephen King movies: Cat's Eye, Firestarter, Silver Bullet, and the So Bad it's Good Maximum Overdrive.