1954 film by Giorgio Pàstina

Mr. Pelletan's rascal son Bébert son got another F for playing in class. His punishment is an essay on the Merovingian king Dagobert. All they know is he had eight wives and reunited Francia. The ignorant knave's irreverent imagination turns that into a harem and a ludicrous war without armies, loaded with anachronisms, in a race against rival king Charibert for the crown of Reims. The king's right hand, archbishop Eloi, the later patrons saint of carpentry, is portrayed as an inventor.

1967 television film directed by Daniele D'Anza

A historical fiction based on the lives of artist Goya and the Duchess of Alba

Maria and Paul love them, but they are very young and, moreover, Maria is the daughter of the municipal sweeper while Paul is the lawyer Bonelli, vice mayor and head of the opposition. To complicate the story there is the reconstruction of a hermitage destroyed during the war. Reconstruction would take the view of the Paseroni villa, big industrial and political traffic. Bonelli's lawyer, a great speaker, becomes a mayor for the death of his predecessor and is bought by Paseroni, while rejecting the love of Paul and Mary for social differences and why Paul should stay behind Doddy Paseroni. At this point, Paul and Mary flee to kill, just as Bonelli has to hold a talk on the radio for the inauguration of Paseroni's villa ...

A documentary about the Venetian lagoon, with the words of Diego Fabbri narrating scenes of strips of land swallowed up by the sea, of small boats sailing on the water, of men and women concentrating on their work in a world which is "a false sea and a false land."

Liana, an architecture graduate, is about to get married until she is confronted with the fact she is sacrificing the rest of her life for a man she barely knows. So begins a series of romantic encounters in which Liana tries to find her freedom and happiness, but which will ultimately lead her to a tragic fate.

A poor musician hires a courtesan to pose as his wife so he can "give" her to a wealthy count in return for patronage.

Ugly, persistent, and (initially) annoying admirer pursues a beautiful actress. At first he is laughed of, especially by his ultra handsome rival, but with his firm insistence, and gradually emerging charm, he seduces the lady, to the total shocked surprise of his rival.

1963 film by Sergio Corbucci

Bewildered, Don Camillo learns that Peppone intends to stand for parliament. Determined to thwart his ambitions, the good priest, ignoring the recommendations of the Lord, decides to campaign against him.

Freshly released from a Russian POW camp, Italian soldier Raf Vallone tries to discover who betrayed his brother to the Nazis.

1953 film by Augusto Genina

Despite of (or perhaps because of ) its sparse production values and unpretentiousness, the Italian Gli Innamorati was feted at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The bulk of the story takes place in a single Roman neighborhood. In the manner of the 1925 German classic A Joyless Street, director Mauro Bolognini studies the hopes, dreams, successes and failures of the neighborhood's various and sundry denizens. No one subplot dominates the proceedings, though a bit of extra time is afforded the story of a fickle seamstress and her seemingly meek-and-mild boyfriend. The cast is dotted with such reassuringly familiar faces as Nino Manfredi and Gino Cervi. Released in the US as Wild Love, Gli Innamorati was instrumental in bringing international fame to director Bolognini, whose career soon shifted into high drive.

The ordinary life of the prudent employee Mr. Travet accelerates as he and her wife meet his new chief.

Carlo Rutelli falls in love with the beautiful variety singer Yvonne la Nuit, but his father opposes the wedding. World War I breaks out and Carlo is killed while Yvonne has a son, but on orders from Carlo's father, she is told he is dead. Her career descends and only Nino, an art partner, remains close to her and helps her earn her living by singing in taverns.

Carlo Rutelli falls in love with the beautiful variety singer Yvonne la Nuit, but his father opposes the wedding. World War I breaks out and Carlo is killed while Yvonne has a son, but on orders from Carlo's father, she is told he is dead. Her career descends and only Nino, an art partner, remains close to her and helps her earn her living by singing in taverns.

The story of Jean Valjean, still pursued by Javert, continues with a love developing between Cosette and radical student Marius, a blackmailing attempt by suspicious innkeeper Thenardier, and a climax on the barricades of Paris.

A deadly tournament for a princess' hand, a mystic "golden deer," babies switched at birth, a raised-by-lions quasi-Tarzan; everything but the proverbial kitchen sink was thrown into this extravagant fantasy adventure. Loin-clothed foundling Arminio (Massimo Girotti) leaves the jungle he grew up in upon reaching adulthood, unknowingly commencing the fulfillment of a prophecy that will have him regain the royal throne that is his birthright. Reviving the invincible muscleman hero of popular Italian silent films, THE IRON CROWN also anticipated the "sword and sandal" craze originating from that country in the 1950s, more directly triggered by two international hits: Alessandro Blasetti's own 1949 FABIOLA (released in 1949) and, not quite a decade later, HERCULES with American bodybuilder Steve Reeves. THE IRON CROWN won the "Mussolini Cup" for Best Italian Film at the Venice Festival but wasn't released in the U.S. until years after the end of World War II. Though little-remembered today (compared to some of the films it partly inspired), it survives as a vigorous if goofy gem of all-stops-out escapism. Here, it is presented it in its original language with English subtitles, minus the clumsy dubbing of poorly re-edited versions that were seen for decades outside Italy - Dennis Harvey