Gigi Ballista
Also Known As: Giggi Ballista, Luigi Ballista
Biography: Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980. Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consultant in the field of advertising and industrial documentaries. He debuted as an actor at a mature age in the early 1960s with some minor roles, but his breakout came in 1966 with a role of weight in Pietro Germi's The Birds, the Bees and the Italians. Following the critical and commercial success of the film, Ballista decided to pursue a professional career as an actor, and he became, mainly thanks to his characteristic hoarse and dysphonic voice, one of the most recognizable character actors in Italian cinema and television. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gigi Ballista, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Adult: No
Birthday: December 01, 1918
Age: 106 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: August 02, 1980
Popularity:
Known For:
Lady Caliph
Overview: La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1970-12-31
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Galileo
Overview: A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.
Genres: History
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1968-09-07
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Stavisky...
Overview: Biarritz, 1933. Charm and talent help small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French political power. But when his great scam involving millions gets exposed, he brings the government to the verge of collapse and the country to the brink of civil war.
Genres: Crime Drama History
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1974-05-15
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Emma Hamilton
Overview: The Making of a Lady: The Story of Lady Hamilton is a 1968 historical drama film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Michèle Mercier, Richard Johnson and John Mills.[1] It was based on the novel La San-Felice by Alexandre Dumas and depicts the love affair between Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson. It was a co-production between Italy, West Germany, France and the United States.
Genres: Drama History Romance
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1968-11-28
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Una storia d'amore
Overview: A married woman falls in love with a playboy dedicated to blackmail, to avoid that reveal his unedifying past, abandons her.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-01-22
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Giovannona Long-Thigh
Overview: When a judge shuts down a high profile cheese factory for violating pollution standards, the owner bribes a monsignor to fix the problem. After they discover the judge has a predilection for married women, the owner employs a prostitute to pose as his wife in an attempt to seduce the judge.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1973-04-12
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Confessions of a Lady Cop
Overview: Gianna Amicucci works in the house of the head of her hometown police force and enters the academy with a kickback from him. She is a beautiful woman (she generously sheds clothes during the film) and has to overcome her male colleagues prejudices, but she gains their respect through a series of brilliant operations.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1976-02-12
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No One Will Notice You're Naked
Overview: Rosario Trapanese is determined to show he is not the typical old-fashion Sicilian. When his firm sends him to Denmark, a more sexual liberated nation than Italy, he immediately adopts the Danish "free-sexual-taboo" way of life. He meets and married Karen and succeeded to come back in Italy. Once here, he discovers Karen did a porn movie and his determination on being open minded is over. The typical Sicilian jealousy drives him crazy. Anyway, after a while, Rosario understands that what his wife did before to meet him it has not to be an issue for him. Karen confesses Rosario she signed a contract for a second movie and she could refuse only by paying a fine. The couple doesn't have enough money so they need to find a solution. And what a solution!
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1971-08-12
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The Climax
Overview: A violin player is going to be father of a sixth child by his second mistress, Marisa. Quite nervous about that, he does not leave the clinic... except to drive Giulia, his legitimate wife, along with his legitimate kids to the station as they leave for a vacation at the seaside.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1967-03-25
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Pleasant Nights
Overview: A trilogy of comedic tales set in the Middle Ages.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1966-09-23
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Fischia Il Sesso
Overview: A girl from New York, Carol, to get married turns to the marriage agency of Mr. Lewis, who introduces her to Gavino, a young Sardinian immigrant clandestine.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-03-06
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Blessed Are the Rich
Overview: Two brothers-in-law, a smuggler and the other traffic policeman, get hold of a large sum of money, destined for illegal exportation to Switzerland, after the courier is killed in a fire fight with the border police. The owners of the money, which occupy an important social position, try in every way to recover it, also leveraging the weakness of the policeman. After the petty betrayal of his brother-in-law, the smuggler decides to keep all the money and flee to Switzerland.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1972-08-30
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The Lady Has Been Raped
Overview: Good bourgeois damage unintentionally life of a drug-party, during which the mistress of the house is raped without recognizing the aggressor. Both she and her husband come into crisis and try to figure out who it was. The truth comes to the surface slowly, and it is unexpected.
Genres: Comedy Crime Mystery Romance
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1973-11-29
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Under the Sheets
Overview: Three medical students who are reluctant to hit the books and unwilling to work are much more enthusiastic about creating pranks and targeting a thriving confidential, female doctor.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1976-05-20
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Il morbidone
Overview: Study of a man whose basic sense of inferiority leads him from worse to worse.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1965-09-30
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La madama
Overview: In the slang of the underworld or "mala" there is a special term for cop: "Madama". But if word were to get around that the "Madama" is Vito (Christian De Sica) they might even start to like the guy. Vito is a funny sort of a cop. For a start he doesn't like the uniform (he never wears it). Things might even go smoothly for him, if it weren't for an incredible number of beautiful girls who always manage to get in his way. Especially one girl Angelo (shouldn't that have been Angela? No, the girl's name really is Angelo). Problems arise too, with his direct supervisor, who also happens to be a relative. But Vito puts up with it all and manages to stay his usual calm and polite self, even when he risks getting killed.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1976-01-16
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Mala, Love and Death
Overview: The young Marisa, after having inherited from her aunt, gets involved in blackmail and crime.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1977-02-17
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Liquirizia
Overview: Two groups of students - the third-class high school students and the matured accountants - decide to perform a show to celebrate the last day of school.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1979-09-15
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The Noon Vigilante
Overview: Franco is abandoned by his wife and daughter who wrongly accuse him of being a wimp. Besides he's bossed around and sexually harassed at work. He decides to take justice into his own hands and get rough with the world. He soon gets his family's respect back.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-03-20
Popularity:
Sunstroke
Overview: One Sunday in summer a mixed crowd pours on to a beach near Rome. A few tourists who had hoped to spend a relaxing day, find themselves involved in a series of unpleasant experiences instead.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1968-03-24
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Cassiodorus is the Hardest Praetorian
Overview: The adventures of the Etruscan Cassiodorus who, after having involuntarily captured a rebel, is named centurion and ingratiates himself with Nero. He tries to take advantage of his role to enrich himself with shady deals, but it goes wrong.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-01-01
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The Family Vice
Overview: When Giacomo D'Amato is released from jail he is immediately employed by Magda, in a plot to secure her the heritage of the count. But there are other players in this game too, and Giacomo has his own agenda.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-10-07
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Horse Fever
Overview: Bruno Fioretti, known as "Mandrake", is an inveterate gambler who never misses a day at the horse racing track in Rome. He is doubly unlucky: he bets too much on one horse, and his wife is sleeping with his best friend because Mandrake is always at the track. Penniless and cuckolded, Mandrake decides to make one last bet.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1976-10-29
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How I Learned to Love Women
Overview: An erotic comedy about the many affairs of a young man with different women.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1966-10-02
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Increase and Multiply
Overview: Italian comedy
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1973-03-15
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The Sunday Woman
Overview: Police commissioner Santamaria is investigating the murder of the ambiguous architect Mr. Garrone. The investigations soon drive him into the Torino's high society. Santamaria suspect Anna Carla and at the same time falls in love for her. Lello is the lover of Massimo, Anna Carla’s gay friend. He is following another direction in order to find out the truth, and his results are confusing the Policeman. But another murder happens...
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-12-23
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Kill the Fatted Calf and Roast It
Overview: After many years of living abroad, a troubled young man returns home due to the death of his father (who he suspects was actually murdered). He attempts to untangle that mystery while still carrying an unhealthy obsession toward his mother, who committed suicide ten years ago. This obsession then draws in his attractive cousin and takes a sexual turn.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1970-02-02
Popularity:
L'assistente sociale tutto pepe...
Overview: Nadia is a social worker who is trying to keep the residents of a local slum in line. Unfortunately she keeps neglecting her work and fantasizing about a life as a pop-star. When she falls for one of the residents in question, a small time crook called Bel Ami, she ends up an accomplice in a convoluted heist involving a holy Catholic relic.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1981-03-18
Popularity:
Snow Job
Overview: A famous skier, his mistress and a ski instructor rob a bank in the Alps and hide the loot in a crevasse.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-02-02
Popularity:
The Schoolmate
Overview: Lilli Carati plays a high school student being pursued by a very persistent young man in this Italian sex-comedy
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1977-08-12
Popularity:
Black Turin
Overview: Mino and Lello, two sons of a worker wrongly accused of murder, try to find out evidence of his innocence and begin to investigate mafia business in Torino.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1972-05-22
Popularity:
Do Not Commit Adultery
Overview: Pino is a young man who lives in Assisi with his father Damiano, a communist revolutionary, and his partner Nadine. One day Pino sees Maria Teresa studying Latin and starts giving her some lessons. Soon they fall in love.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1971-09-13
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Poker in Bed
Overview: A poker player on a losing streak meets a beautiful young woman. He's attracted to her, but she appears to be perfectly content with her boyfriend, a somewhat wussy writer. The gambler gets the idea that if he can get this woman into bed, it will change his luck at the gambling tables.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-08-14
Popularity:
1001 Nights of Pleasure
Overview: Sultan Almamud suddenly becomes powerless, unable to enjoy his beautiful Zumurud. The councillors then call people who can excite them by telling stories. At the end of their tales, he will finally be able to enjoy her.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1972-02-08
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Roma bene
Overview: A parade of corrupt and sleazy characters in the high society of Rome.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1971-10-08
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I Hate Blondes
Overview: There are two problems with Emilio and his career as a pulp writer. Emilio is a bumbling fellow who has absolutely nothing in common with the heroes he writes about. Second, Emilio can't seem to publish anything under his own name.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1980-09-12
Popularity:
Policewoman
Overview: A young policewoman discovers an ecological scandal and must face the corruption in the Milan Police department.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-10-24
Popularity:
Salon Kitty
Overview: Kitty runs a brothel in Nazi Germany where the soldiers come to "relax". Recording devices have been installed in each room by a power hungry army official who plans to use the information to blackmail Hitler and gain power himself. A girl named Margherita discovers the little ploy and with Kitty's help plans to take on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1976-03-02
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The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Overview: During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.
Genres: Comedy Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-01-02
Popularity:
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians
Overview: An anthology film that presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso. In the first story, a husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair. In the second, a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them. In the third, men of the town all seduce a promiscuous teenager, but her father eventually reveals that she is underage, and they face prosecution for statutory rape.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1966-02-10
Popularity:
Italian Sex
Overview: A sexy graduate student is giving her thesis presentation, which creates quite a stir since it reveals that she has just posed as a prostitute for several months to do sociological research for her thesis. She relates various stories of her experiences to her salivating thesis committee and a large audience of curious on-lookers.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-06-11
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The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
Overview: When an oily attorney dies at the hands of the mafia, a dedicated French detective investigates the man's murder. He soon uncovers a drug-smuggling operation and lets his sawed-off shotgun do the talking to the toughs in this Gallic gangster feature.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1967-05-20
Popularity:
Blume in Love
Overview: Lawyer Stephen Blume, who specializes in divorces, lives a paradoxical situation when, having his own marriage break up, is still in love with his ex-wife.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-06-17
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Midnight Express
Overview: Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-08-31
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Un amore targato Forlì
Overview: The young Rimini native Stefano Santi goes to Rome, with a letter of recommendation for the maestro Melchiorri, artistic director of the Opera House, to take part in a competition for cellists. While trying in vain to be received by Melchiorri, he met an unscrupulous girl, Giorgia Muller, an architectural student temporarily linked to a fellow student. Between one misfortune and another the cello smashes, a homosexual theater manager tries to enmesh him Stefano, who now has a precarious employment in a nightclub, yields to the allurements of Giorgia, ending up in his bed. The girl, however, is unfaithful to him, so that Stefano, disgusted with her, and having now lost all hope of participating in the competition,
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-11-24
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Trastevere
Overview: A retired actor's search for his stray pet strings together this episodic portrait of the ancient Roman quarter.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1971-11-13
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Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses
Overview: When Marino goes to Rome for an event, he certainly does not imagine meeting Marisa, who will become the love of his life. But once love is found, it is a matter of spreading it and here the difficulties begin: first the father who opposes it; then, after the death of his father, the gossips who make Marino believe that Marisa was a little good, so much so that Marisa runs away. Repentant, Marino searches in vain and then, almost by accident, finds her again, Mrs. Ciceri. But love admits no obstacles, not even that of a deaf and dumb husband.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1968-10-04
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The Maniacs
Overview: An anthology of brief comic sketches based on manias, mainly sexual, featuring several figures of Italian society.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1964-03-28
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Anima mia
Overview: Insatiable playboy Marco Donati decides to marry his latest flame, the beautiful Francesca. When the news gets into local newspapers, many of his former lovers are annoyed.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-01-24
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The Queens
Overview: Four comedic shorts explore quirky relationships and misadventures: a teenage girl's journey home, a self-serving babysitter, a husband confronting infidelity, and a wealthy woman's drunken escapades with her butler.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1966-04-21
Popularity:
Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia
Overview: In Italy, a dying woman tells her granddaughter that she hid her treasure many years ago in Russia, in the city of Leningrad. Other people (who were around when she died) also learn about it. Thus several people arrive in Leningrad trying to find the treasure, each one for himself/herself. What's worse - the only information they have is that the treasure is under a lion - and it's in Leningrad, a city known by its numerous statues of lions. The story gets even more interesting when the soviet militia (police) learns about the whole thing and send an undercover agent...
Genres: Comedy Adventure
Original Language: ru
Release Date: 1974-01-31
Popularity:
The Seventh Floor
Overview: In this unusual offbeat black comedy directed by Ugo Tognazzi, Giuseppe (Tognazzi) is a middle-aged industrialist obsessed with gadgets. When his nose starts to whistle uncontrollably, he checks into a clinic to resolve the problem. What begins as a minor affliction worsens, and Giuseppe is placed on a different floor as his ailments multiply. The sicker he gets, the higher he goes up in the floors of the clinic, until he is near death's door.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1967-08-06
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Permettete signora che ami vostra figlia?
Overview: Gino Pistone is an actor in a local theatre, but his plays aren't successful. But then he gets a genius idea: to make a play on the love story of Benito Mussolini and Claretta Petacci.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-04-13
Popularity:
Il fratello
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-01-01
Popularity: