secret of santa vittoria

It goes without saying that not every film is a classic. In fact, most are pretty routine. But even amidst a formulaic thriller or a teenage melodrama there are moments of cinematic inspiration than peek out of the mediocrity. The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) is a better than average studio picture made in an era when studios were struggling to find their place. Weighed down with romantic subplots and a manufactured sense of Hollywood cheer, it nevertheless captures one glorious moment that makes the entire film a worthwhile viewing experience.

That tide turning moment comes about halfway through a picture that struggles to find its footing. Anthony Quinn stars as Bombolini, the resident drunk of a quiet Italian village on the brink of German occupation during the end of WW2. With a cellar full of more than a million bottles of wine, Santa Vittoria’s supply is sure to be stolen by the Germans unless a plan can be hatched at the last minute. But with Bombolini elected mayor under accidental circumstances, the odds aren’t in their favor.

Directed by industry stalwart Stanley Kramer (On The Beach), the film’s characters begin as little more than colorful caricatures. Anthony Quinn barely has to break a sweat (yet he does…profusely) to play the lovable buffoon Bombolini. The actor seemed to perfectly fill any role that called for an unbuttoned shirt and permanent five o’ clock shadow. And for a while it seems that DP Giussepe Rontunno’s (The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen) beautiful cinematography and the detailed Cincetta sets will all go to waste. But as the plan to disguise 2/3rds of the town’s supply of wine in a walled off tunnel takes shape, the film and its characters begin to fill in some details.

Shot with the elegant choreography of a Hollywood musical, the aforementioned sequence is a clever display of ingenuity and editing skills, following 600,000 bottles as they travel through town via a hand-to-hand bucket brigade. Once in place, the real work of keeping their secret begins as the German forces, led by the sympathetic Captain von Prum (Hardy Kruger), search for the missing bottles by any means necessary.

Its from this point onward that The Secret of Santa Vittoria becomes more than a colorful period piece. The safe, sanitized studio atmosphere is replaced by real-world threats and deadly consequences. Bombolini’s clownish behavior just might cost people their lives. And, in the film’s most well rounded performance, the unpredictable von Prum (Kruger) reveals himself to be the town savior and destroyer at the same time.

This unexpected depth is often at odds with the script’s more formal concessions to established studio product. But it makes for a magically unpredictable movie that satisfies on almost every level, drunk on its own nostalgic grandiosity. Congratulations to Twilight Time for rescuing another forgotten relic of the studio era. Their 3000-copy limited edition blu-ray likely wasn’t at the top of many request lists, but should be a real find for those who pick it up at . The hi-def transfer is up to their usual high standards and includes the theatrical trailer and isolated score track as extras.