Mussolini and I
Encyclopedia
Mussolini and I is a 4 hour docu-drama that was made for television. It originally aired on HBO in September 1985. It is about Italy
's fascist regime leader Benito Mussolini
. The film starts just before World War II
and shows the political and personal side of Benito Mussolini
aka Il Duce's fall from power until his death and the end of the war. It delves into Il Duce's relationship with his son in-law, daughter, wife, mistress, and admiration of Hitler. Most of the film is based on the diaries of Ciano. It was directed by Alberto Negrin. All filming was done in Italy; including northern Italy's Gargnano
, Merano, Bolzano, Verona
, and in central Italy, Rome
and L'Aquila
. Filming was also done at the well known Villa Torlonia
and Palazzo Venezia
. It was released on a 2 disc DVD in August 2003. It is divided into 4 segments for a total of 240 minutes and was released by Koch Entertainment
Cast
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's fascist regime leader Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. The film starts just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and shows the political and personal side of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
aka Il Duce's fall from power until his death and the end of the war. It delves into Il Duce's relationship with his son in-law, daughter, wife, mistress, and admiration of Hitler. Most of the film is based on the diaries of Ciano. It was directed by Alberto Negrin. All filming was done in Italy; including northern Italy's Gargnano
Gargnano
Gargnano is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy.The municipal territory includes the artificial Valvestino Lake, created in 1962....
, Merano, Bolzano, Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, and in central Italy, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and L'Aquila
L'Aquila
L'Aquila is a city and comune in central Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 73,150 inhabitants, but has a daily presence in the territory of 100,000 people for study, tertiary activities, jobs and tourism...
. Filming was also done at the well known Villa Torlonia
Villa Torlonia (Rome)
Villa Torlonia is a villa and surrounding gardens in Rome, Italy, formerly belonging to the Torlonia family. It is entered from via Nomentana....
and Palazzo Venezia
Palazzo Venezia
The Palazzo di Venezia is a palazzo in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval house intended as the residence of the cardinals appointed to the Church of San Marco...
. It was released on a 2 disc DVD in August 2003. It is divided into 4 segments for a total of 240 minutes and was released by Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment was a music, film and television distribution company. It was purchased by E1 Entertainment in 2005 and now operates under the name E1 Entertainment.-History:The company began in 1975 as Koch International...
Cast
- Bob HoskinsBob HoskinsRobert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
as Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.... - Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
as Edda Ciano, daughter of Mussolini - Anthony HopkinsAnthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
as Count Galeazzo Ciano, son in-law of Mussolini - Annie GirardotAnnie GirardotAnnie Girardot was a French actress.She began performing in 1955, making her film debut in Treize à table. Girardot won the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti in 1956, and in 1977 won the César Award for Best Actress portraying the title character in Docteur Françoise Gailland...
as Rachele MussoliniRachele MussoliniDonna Rachele Mussolini was the mistress, wife, and widow of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.-Biography:...
, Mussolini's wife - Barbara De Rossi as Claretta Petacci, Mussolini's mistress
- Massimo Dapporto as Vittorio MussoliniVittorio MussoliniVittorio Mussolini was an Italian film critic and producer. He was also the second son of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. However, he was the first son of Mussolini with his second wife Rachele.-Biography:...
, son of Mussolini - Vittorio MezzogiornoVittorio MezzogiornoVittorio Mezzogiorno was an Italian actor.-Biography:Mezzogiorno was born in Cercola, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Vincenzo, who wanted to become a director, introduced him to the theatre....
as Alessandro PavoliniAlessandro PavoliniAlessandro Pavolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist, notable for his involvement in the Fascist government during World War II and also for his cruelty against the opponents of fascism....
, friend of Galeazzo's and leader of the Republican Fascist PartyRepublican Fascist PartyThe Republican Fascist Party was a political party led by Benito Mussolini during the German occupation of Central and Northern Italy. It was founded as the successor of former National Fascist Party as an anti-monarchist party... - Kurt RaabKurt RaabKurt Raab was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with cult German film director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder with whom he collaborated on 31 film projects.-Biography:Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, what is...
as Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945... - Marne MaitlandMarne MaitlandJames Marne Maitland was an Anglo-Indian character actor in British films and television programmes.He made his film debut in Cairo Road , and went onto be type cast as villains from the Far East, particularly for Hammer Film Productions...
as King Victor Emmanuel III - Hans-Dieter Asner as Joachim von RibbentropJoachim von RibbentropUlrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
, Foreign Minister of the Third Reich - Carlheinz Heitmann as Karl WolffKarl WolffKarl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
, Military Governor and Supreme SS and Police LeaderSS and Police LeaderSS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
of Northern Italy - Harald Dietl as Otto SkorzenyOtto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
, led Operation Oak to rescue Mussolini from Campo ImperatoreCampo ImperatoreCampo Imperatore is a mountain grassland or alpine meadow formed by a high basin shaped plateau located in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy in the Gran Sasso massif. It is the largest plateau of the Apennine ridge... - Dietlinde TurbanDietlinde TurbanDietlinde Turban is a German actress. Her brother is the violinist Ingolf Turban.Turban made her acting debut at age 19 at the Residenz Theater, Munich, as Gretchen in a production of Goethe's Faust. Her other stage roles have included Desdemona in Othello.Turban is married to the conductor...
as Frau Beetz, born as Hildegard Burkhardt, she was a German agent who visited Galeazzo in prison and tried to help him - Ted RusoffTed RusoffTed Rusoff is an Canadian actor, voice dubbing artist and dubbing director known for his extensive work in the English language dubbing of foreign films ....
as Francesco Saverio NittiFrancesco Saverio NittiFrancesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paola Nitti was an Italian economist and political figure. A Radical, he served as the 36th Prime Minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920.... - David-George Brown as Giuseppe CastellanoGiuseppe CastellanoGiuseppe Castellano was an Italian general who negotiated the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces on September 8, 1943.-Military career:...
- Gianni Pulone as Enzo GalbiatiEnzo GalbiatiEnzo Emilio Galbiati was an Italian soldier and fascist politician.-Biography:Born in Monza, Galbiati was a lieutenant in the Italian Army's elite Arditi during the First World War and was wounded in action in 1917. Whilst still in the army he joined the Monza fascio in 1919 and became the leader...
- Stefano De Sando as Dino GrandiDino GrandiDino Grandi , Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament.- Early life :...
- Luciano Baglioni as Carlo ScorzaCarlo ScorzaCarlo Scorza was a prominent member of the National Fascist Party of Italy during World War II. He built his reputation in the Fascist paramilitary group known as the Blackshirts, and later rose to the position of party secretary, second only to Benito Mussolini in authority over the wartime...
- Franco Meroni as Giuseppe BottaiGiuseppe BottaiGuiseppe Bottai was an Italian lawyer, economist, journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini.-Fascism:...
- Leslie Thomas as Emilio De BonoEmilio De BonoEmilio De Bono was an Italian General, fascist activist, Marshal, and member of the Fascist Grand Council . De Bono fought in the Italo-Turkish War, World War I, and the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.-Early life:De Bono was born in Cassano d'Adda...
- Piero Palermini as Roberto FarinacciRoberto FarinacciRoberto Farinacci was a leading Italian Fascist politician, and important member of the National Fascist Party before and during World War II, and one of its ardent anti-Semitic proponents.-Early life:...
- Robert Sommer as Giacomo SuardoGiacomo SuardoGiacomo Suardo was an Italian lawyer and politician. He served as President of the Italian Senate from 1939 to 1943.- Life :...
- Franco Mazzieri as Giovanni MarinelliGiovanni MarinelliGiovanni Marinelli was an Italian Fascist political leader.Marinelli was born in Adria, Veneto.A wealthy man, he contributed to Fascist success by financing the March on Rome. Secretary of the National Fascist Party , he created the Ceka, a secret police established on the model of the Soviet Cheka...
- Ulrich Engst as Major Otto-Harald MorsHarald MorsMajor Otto-Harald Mors , was a battalion commander, with the Fallschirmjäger, who planned and led the Gran Sasso raid to rescue Benito Mussolini, following his arrest in September 1943...