Two Cents Worth of Hope (1952)
Director: Renato Castellani
Writers: Renato Castellani; Titina De Filippo
Stars: Maria Fiore, Vincenzo Musolino, Filomena Russo
Runtime: 110 minutes
Plot: Once a young woman gets a man to fall in love with her, he must prove himself financially stable and meet her dowry requirements.
Review: The third film in director Castellani's "young love" trilogy, the ardour is one-sided at first, but Carmela is determined in pursuing her heart's desire. Once he's "hooked," Antonio scurries from job to job to prove his financial viability. The characters are delightful and reflective, beyond any doubt, of the typical villagers in the area of Naples, where Castellani recruited his cast and made his film. A lively girl named Maria Fiore plays the sultry and eccentric miss, prevented from marrying the hero by her father. A strapping chap, Vincenzo Musolino, is grandly explosive and harassed as a poor man earning a dowry for his sister before he can take a wife.
But it must be said that Mr. Castellani and those who worked with him on the script have used parental opposition only as a contrivance for their tale. When they have spun out sufficient complications and incidents with this device, they easily arrange for their young lovers to solve their dilemma naturally. The consequence is that the picture—which won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival — is flavoursome and impressive, undeniably realistic and aptly paced, although slightly missing the real pathos that lies somewhere within its tale.
Reviewed by Mohaiminul Islam
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