Synopsis
The Gold of Naples (L'oro di Napoli, 1954) is Vittorio De Sica's classic anthology, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Six short tales sketch the people of post-war Naples: a clown bullied by a small-time crook, a pizza seller who loses her wedding ring, a count outplayed at cards by a doorman's son.
Each episode is its own portrait of the city. A young Sophia Loren, as the sultry pizzaiola, lands one of the roles that pushed her toward stardom. Totò plays a meek man hounded by a freeloading tenant who won't leave; Silvana Mangano is a woman pulled into a strange marriage; Eduardo De Filippo and De Sica himself, stepping in front of his own camera, give the segments their bittersweet edge.
Under the comic surface, the neorealist master maps poverty, pride and stubborn vitality. One story makes you laugh, the next — a child's funeral procession — quietly wrecks you. If you want to trace where 1950s Italian cinema comes from, start here. Stream The Gold of Naples (1954) online on iFILM.
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