Totò a colori

This film, which follows the misadventures of an unsuccessful, but self-professed genius, musician who takes on the direction of a musical celebration in honour of a gangster, in the hopes of securing a recording contract. The plot here is not really the focus, rather this is a showcase for famed Italian comedian, Totò. This film, the first Italian film in colour, was put together from a combination of Totò's most famous sketches, an thus has a somewhat important place in the history of Italian cinema. Comedy is always a subjective genre, and rarely dates well, so a contemporary audience might not get many laughs from this. It's of a style reminiscent of many Hollywood comedies of the era, relying on fast-paced dialogue and absurd situations, but minus the slapstick/physical elements sometimes found in 'screwball' comedies. Indeed, this is not a very visually engaging film. The then new colour system apparently required particularly powerful lights, which may have hampered the production and limited the freedom of movement.

Ultimately this is a serviceable comedy, that might particularly appeal to fans of Bing Crosby/Bob Hope style comedy, and is otherwise probably just a good way to discover the work of Totò.