The Two Colonels

The Two Colonels
The Two Colonels
Directed by	Steno
Written by	Bruno Corbucci; Giovanni Grimaldi
Produced by	Gianni Buffardi
Starring	Totò; Walter Pidgeon
Cinematography	Gino Santoni
Edited by	Giuliana Attenni
Music by	Gianni Ferrio
Distributed by	Titanus
Release date	1963;
Running time	96 min
Country	Italy
Languages	Italian; English

The Two Colonels (Italian: I due colonnelli) is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Steno and starring Totò and Walter Pidgeon.^[1]^[2] The character of Totò took inspiration from a similar character he played in Totò Diabolicus.^[3]

Plot

The story takes place on the Greek-Albanian border, where Italian and British troops face off in 1943. Both sides take, lose, and retake a border village countless times during the entire movie. The village is taken and retaken by both sides so many times that the locals no longer pay attention to the battles and openly collaborate with whichever side is occupying the village at the time. Both sides use the same hotel as their HQ, and a friendship and mutual respect even develop between the two opposing commanding officers. This goes on until the Germans arrive and order the Italian commander Di Maggio to destroy the village, killing its inhabitants, an order the Italian commander refuses to carry out, bringing on a death sentence. His men refuse the German officer's order to fire and are also condemned to death. The British invade the village just in time to save the Italians, and all rejoice at the news that Italy has just asked for an armistice, so they could join the Allies during the final stages of the war.

Cast

Totò: Colonel Antonio Di Maggio Regio Esercito
Walter Pidgeon: Colonel Timothy Henderson Royal Fusiliers
Nino Taranto: Sgt. Quaglia
Giorgio Bixio: Soldier Giobatta Parodi
Toni Ucci: Mazzetta
Nino Terzo: Soldier La Padula
Scilla Gabel: Iride
Gérard Herter: German General von Tirpitz
Rowland Bartrop (as Roland von Bartrop): Major Kruger
Andrea Scotti : Iride's husband

References

^ "Gli urlacci di Totò e un emulo Constantine". La Stampa. 18 January 1963.
^ Alberto Anile. I film di Totò (1946-1967): la maschera tradita. Le mani, 1998.
^ Masolino D'Amico. La commedia all'italiana. Il Saggiatore, 2008.

External links

The Two Colonels at IMDb

This article related to an Italian comedy film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Gli urlacci di Totò e un emulo Constantine". La Stampa. 18 January 1963.

[2] Alberto Anile. I film di Totò (1946-1967): la maschera tradita. Le mani, 1998.

[3] Masolino D'Amico. La commedia all'italiana. Il Saggiatore, 2008.

[1]

[2]

[3]