The Walls of Malapaga

The Walls of Malapaga
Original French film poster
Directed by	René Clément
Written by	Jean Aurenche Pierre Bost (adaptation and dialogue) Cesare Zavattini Suso Cecchi d'Amico Alfredo Guarini (screenplay)
Produced by	Alfredo Guarini
Starring	Jean Gabin Isa Miranda
Cinematography	Louis Page
Edited by	Mario Serandrei
Music by	Roman Vlad
Production companies	Italia Produzione Francinex
Distributed by	MGM (1949 Italian release) Films International (1950 US release)
Release date	16 November 1949 (1949-11-16) (France)
Running time	France: 95 mins Italy: 104 minutes United States: 89 minutes
Countries	France Italy
Languages	French Italian
Box office	2,018,745 admissions (France)[1]

The Walls of Malapaga (Italian: Le mura di Malapaga, French: Au-delà des grilles (Beyond the Gates), is a 1949 French-Italian drama film directed by René Clément and starring Jean Gabin, Isa Miranda and Andrea Checchi. It was a co-production made by Francinex and Italia Produzione, produced by Alfredo Guarini from a screenplay by Cesare Zavattini, Suso Cecchi d'Amico and Alfredo Guarini adapted by Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost. The music score was by Roman Vlad and the cinematography by Louis Page. It was made at the Farnesina Studios of Titanus in Rome with sets designed by the art director Piero Filippone and Luigi Gervasi.

Plot summary

French criminal on the run Pierre Arrignon finds himself in Genoa, where he falls in love with local woman Marta Manfredini (Isa Miranda). The film is set in Italy, and the dialogue is primarily in French.

Cast

• Jean Gabin as Pierre Arrignon
• Isa Miranda as Marta Manfredini
• Vera Talchi as Cecchina, Marta's daughter
• Andrea Checchi as Giuseppe, Marta's husband
• Robert Dalban as the mariner
• Ave Ninchi as Maria, the neighbour
• Checco Rissone as the forger
• Renato Malavasi as the dentist
• Carlo Tamberlani as the inspector
• Vittorio Duse as the agent

Awards

The Walls of Malapaga was highly regarded in its day: It won an honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and both Clément and Miranda won awards at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

References

1. "Walls of Malapaga". Box Office Story.
2. "Festival de Cannes: The Walls of Malapaga". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-01-09.

External links

• The Walls of Malapaga at IMDb
• The Walls of Malapaga at the TCM Movie Database