Partenza ore 7 (1946) Online

"Partenza ore 7" (Departure at 7 O'Clock) resembles countless American musicals about a young singing female performer who gets her big break when the star of the company gets ill and she must go on to save the show. Those musicals were actually re-arriving from American when this film was made in immediate post-war Italy.

Chiaretta Gelli is the likable and sweetly-voiced newcomer from the sticks who suddenly becomes star of the show. Carlo Campanini does a nice turn as the company director. The movie suggests the Fellini-Lattuada "Variety Lights" (made later) in its portrait of the loves and travails of a troupe of traveling performers. The direction by Mario Mattoli is sprightly. Particularly amusing is when the troupe is stopped by armed bandits and forced to remove their outer clothes...leading them into an embarrassing predicament.

The end result of all this, however, is a movie you could enjoy while doing the ironing, listening to the songs without any real need to watch.

Alberto Rabagliati was the frank Sinatra and Johannes Heesters of Italy.An Italin Jazz singer,who won a Valentino look a like contest, after Valentino's death,but American career never materialized, he did learned Jazz and early swing from America.But he doesn't have the lead. He plays George the cousin of one of the Troupers,Carlo Campanini.Giorgio has aspirations of being a Singer.The plot Focuses on Chiarretta,played by Chiaretta Gelli, who got into the chorus of the Vaudeville troupe,which includes a midget and an Acrobatic group, just so she can try to become a singer.Her boyfriend Filipo, played by Tino Scotti, disapproves of it.When leading actress and singer of the troupe Lucy D'Orsay played by Lucy Laura Gore, refuses to ride on the bus with the rest of the troupe,they replace Laura with Chia.Boyfriend gets mad and set up a audience boo to get her out of business, When Lucy shows up.It's when Carlos refuses Participates to act with Lucy that the company discovers a look alike who's a stage hand ,who's brothers look a like.Carlo even plays one of the women patrons of the theater.The bus sequence looks like they are all really singing with their voices as oppose to mouthing .It seems in Italy Vaudeville continued to exist,while it was dead in America.A fun film with an Icon of Italy.Even under the fascist era.04/25/13