Luci del varietà (1950)

Directors:

Federico Fellini
Alberto Lattuada

Writers:

Federico Fellini (screenplay)
Federico Fellini (story)

Release Date:

6 December 1950 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A beautiful but ambitious young woman joins a traveling troupe of third-rate vaudevillians and inadvertently causes jealousy and emotional crises.

Plot Keywords:

Rehearsal | White Tie And Tails | Dancer | Loyalty | Actor

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Peppino De Filippo	...	Checco Dal Monte
Carla Del Poggio	...	Liliana 'Lily' Antonelli
Giulietta Masina	...	Melina Amour
John Kitzmiller	...	Trumpet player Johnny
Dante Maggio	...	Remo
Checco Durante	...	Theater Owner
Gina Mascetti	...	Valeria del Sole
Giulio Calì	...	Magician Edison Will
Silvio Bagolini	...	Bruno Antonini
Giacomo Furia	...	Duke
Mario De Angelis	...	Maestro
Vanja Orico	...	Gypsy Singer
Enrico Piergentili	...	Melina's Father
Renato Malavasi	...	Hotelkeeper
Joseph Falletta	...	Pistolero Bill (as Joe Falletta)

Also Known As:

Lights of Variety (UK)
Variety Lights (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Capranica, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Capitolium

Trivia:

The first film directed by Federico Fellini.

Quotes:

Checco Dal Monte: [to Lily] I'm an artist. So are you. You've got spunk, spunk! You'll see. You and I together, always! I will be the performer. I don't need anyone. I will form the company. I promise you.

Movie Connections:

References Wyoming (1940)

First Fellini --- not bad.

Variety Lights is Fellini's debut film. The film consists of ideas and motifs that would succeedingly appear in movies like 8 1/2 and The Clowns. However, these traits are still undeveloped but we can see how they would be used as personal metaphors for the director. Running under an hour, the film is shown in black and white with legible subtitles and moving at a smooth pace. The story follows a variety show troupe and an female audience member who is so inspired by one of their performances that she asks to join their group. We are then presented with the rise of the performer's act and how mistakes like having her dress fall off soon attracts the attention of the audience. Soon the variety show begins displaying a more racy repertory all which is fronted by sexy novice. Some images in the film like large behinds and women in bikinis may have been provocative for its time in America --although Italy's standards tended to be more shocking. Nevertheless, as discussed in the documentary Rated X, Fellini's movies was generally restricted to Adult theaters due to subject matter, although much more provocation was soon to come. Variety Lights features Masina, Fellini's wife, in a supporting role as a dancer with few scenes, although she still gives a good performance nevertheless. Masina would soon gather more attention to her acting in succeeding Fellini films like Night of Cabaria and La Strata. However, the focus of this film is directed at De Filippo for his role as the impresario and Poggio as the desperate actress. Veriety Lights is not the best Fellini production but still worth a look.