Amato, Giuseppe

(1889-1964)

   Actor, director, producer. After having worked for many years in various capacities in the Neapolitan film industry, Amato emigrated to America where, for a time, he tried unsuccessfully to become a Hollywood film producer. Returning to Italy in 1932, he produced Cinque a zero (Five to Nil, 1932), a film directed by Mario Bonnard that employed the talents of veteran Sicilian stage actor Angelo Musco. This was followed by a string of popular comedies, among them Tre uomini in frac (I Sing for You Alone, 1932) and Il cappello a tre punte (The Three-Cornered Hat, 1934), two of the first films to star Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo.

   In the following years Peppino, as he was universally known, produced many of Mario Camerini's films, among them Batticuore (Heartbeat, 1939), Igrandi magazzini (Department Store, 1939), and Una romantica avventura (A Romantic Adventure, 1940), as well as Alessandro Blasetti's La cena delle beffe (The Jester's Supper, 1940) and Quattro passi fra le nuvole (A Stroll through the Clouds, 1942).

   In the postwar period he distinguished himself further as producer of several of the great classics of neorealism including Vittorio De Sica's Sciuscia (Shoe-Shine, 1946), Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), and Umberto D (1952). He was also associate producer (usually uncredited) for Roberto Rossellini's Roma citta aperta (Rome Open City, 1945) and for Francesco, giullare di Dio (Francis, God's Jester, 1950). His final, and perhaps greatest, triumph as a producer was Federico Fellini's landmark La dolce vita (1960).

   Remembered affectionately as one of the Italian film industry's most colorful characters, Amato also directed a handful of films, among them Yvonne la nuit (Yvonne of the Night, 1949) and Donne proibite (Angels of Darkness, 1954).