Rome, Open City (1945): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• Federico Fellini was initially uninterested in joining, as he had disapproved of partisan action during the occupation.
• By the end of World War II, Rossellini had abandoned the film Desiderio, as conditions made it impossible to complete (though it was later finished by Marcello Pagliero in 1946 and disowned by Rossellini).
• The American release was censored, resulting in a cut of about 15 minutes.
• The story of the film's journey from Italy to the United States is recounted in Federico Fellini's autobiographical essay "Sweet Beginnings" published in 1996.
• New Yorker Rod E. Geiger, a soldier in the Signal Corps who eventually became instrumental in the movie's global success, met Rossellini at a point when the production was out of film.
• In order to authentically portray the hardships and poverty of life in Rome under the occupation Rossellini hired mostly non-professional actors; a few exceptions included established stars Fabrizi and Anna Magnani.
• According to Rossellini, "the situation of the moment guided by my own and the actors' moods and perspectives" dictated what was shot, and he relied more on improvisation than on a script.
• Rod E. Geiger, a U.S. Army private stationed in Rome, met Rossellini and Fellini after catching them tapping into the power supply used to illuminate the G.I. dancehall.
• In the book The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini, author Tag Gallagher credits Geiger at age 29 as the "man who more than any single individual was to make him and the new Italian cinema famous around the world."
• The outstanding performance is that of Aldo Fabrizi as the priest, who embraces with dignity and humanity a most demanding part.
• Marcello Pagliero is excellent too, as the resistance leader, and Anna Magnani brings humility and sincerity to the role of the woman who is killed.
• The remaining cast is unqualifiedly fine, with the exception of Harry Feist in the role of the German commander.
• Rossellini had initially planned a documentary titled Storie di ieri on the subject of Don Pietro Morosini, a Catholic priest who had been shot by the Nazis for helping the partisan movement in Italy, and began meeting with a number of screenwriters in Rome shortly after Germany abandoned the city.
• It launched director Rosselini, screenwriter Fellini, and actress Anna Magnani into the international spotlight.

Source: Wikipedia

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