Anna

Finally found a vhs copy of Anna(1951) via Movie Classics...Bad copy chopped..sniped together but the essence of this sultry exciting Italian neo classic film is still there...Over 50 yrs since I first saw this film in the Regent Theatre in Newark,NJ with my family..but those images remain...Anna the Nun.,Anna the nurse, Anna the night club samba singer dancer, Anna the whore who loves one man & sensually lusts after another!!!!The songs "Anna" sung by Mangano(#1 Hit record) & also "Non Dimenticar" are unforgettable.. beautiful Mangano, the face of Italy has made some US films notably, Ulysseus,5 Branded Women, & The Tempest, but will be remembered by aging audiences as the supreme siren of neo classic Italian films, Bitter Rice,ANNA, & Gold of Naples etc...dont miss..& lets hope we get a better copy!!!

Anna (Silvana Mangano) is a nun who works at a hospital taking care of patients, but the arrival of Andrea (Raf Vallone) will bring forward memories from her past.

This is the movie where the song "El negro zumbon" comes from. A song performed by Flo Sandon that became a hit single and was also featured in "Caro diario" from 1993, where we can see Nanni Moretti dancing in front of a TV in a shop.

Director Alberto Lattuada introduces us to Anna in her present situation as a nun working among doctors, but the coming of a new patient takes us to the past where we can see its protagonist's life before she became a nun.

Anna was a nightclub singer who captivated many clients every night performing songs. It is here Vittorio (Vittorio Gassman) was part of her life as the bartender in said club.

Thematically, the film explores how past and present collide, creating dilemmas with love at its core. Anna, as a sister working in the hospital, is something very much appreciated, but will this be enough to silence the voices now awakened that beckon her to follow her heart?

Judging by the mostly ecstatic reviews it would appear that this film of Alberto Lattuarda has had quite an emotional impact and understandably so. It has been dismissed by critics as laughable melodrama. There are oodles of laughable melos out there but they are not all as well made and well played as this one. Having scored a hit three years earlier with 'Bitter Rice' it was obviously felt that there was more mileage to be had from the trio of Raf Vallone, Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano. Vallone is again the honourable one, Gassman the rat and Silvana the meat in the sandwich. What can one say of La Mangano? An imperious, majestic and enigmatic artiste of great emotional power and depth. The highlight of the film for many will be Trovajoli's 'El Negro Zumbon' which she performs in a nightclub before becoming a nun(yes, it's that kind of film!) She is able to utilise her early training as a dancer but she lip-syncs to the voice of Flo Sandons whose singing career certainly benefited. As Sister Anna she is obliged to make a tough moral choice and her last line 'I have not lost' spoken to the strains of Nino Rota's lush score, should have you reaching for the Kleenex. At least I sincerely hope so!

I loved the musical numbers. I wish I had a truly preserved copy of this movie. I never knew this movie existed until I saw "Caro Diaro". I have become a Silvana fan! "Silvana has 50 different faces, it all depends on which way she will face the camera. Each face she has, is truly beautiful. Bless Her Heart.............

Long before Sophia, Gina or Monica there was Silvana, both beautiful! and could act as well. As a child my ItalianAmerican parents took me to see her films that made it across the Atlantic, namely the classic Bitter Rice, and Anna ... Both were great films, but Anna was unforgettable, the mood the score and the performances were just great. I realize it must be 50 yrs. since Ive seen this film/ maybe once on TV! Never appears in revival houses... It should be seen.. It is not on USA tape,(Bitter Rice is sometimes shown on Bravo), Im going to contact TCM and Bravo to please revive this movie. It had 2 hit songs "Anna" # 1 hit, sung by Mangano herself, and "Non Dimenticar" done by everyone including Nat King Cole, Jerry Vale and others. If someone is aware of a video release please let me know... long live Anna and its sultry sexy star, who people are forgetting, Silvana Mangano!