Operazione San Gennaro

Harry Guardino comes to Naples to steal the treasure of Saint Gennaro -- thirty billion, and even in lire, that's a lot of money. Relying on the advice of the city's godfather, Toto, he hires Nino Manfredi to be the straw boss of the Italian crew. However, when Manftedi discovers what they are stealing, he refuses as a true Neapolitan.... until Guardino's moll, Senta Berger, persuades him otherwise. He sees it as a means to help the poor of the city. This, however, being an Italian caper film, things go awry.

With Dino Risi directing from a script he co-wrote, they go awry in a very funny way. This is a frantic comedy that mocks everyone, from Guardino's genius who falls apart when anything goes wrong, the willingness of the sentimental gangsters to drop everything to attend a distant collateral relation's wedding. This is one you should not miss.

This appears like a superficial farce full of slapstick and comedy situations of increasingly ridiculous complications, but it is much more than that. Also, not only is it an extensive and warm exposure of the Napolitan style of life and its very original mentality with great variations, but above all a very human approach to this kind of life. Of course, it's a triumphant comedy but with dark undertones. The one who spoils the entertainment is Harry Guardian as Jack, who doesn't fit in at all, can't understand the Napolitan mentality and style of life and seems to deliberately make a bad actor, but the story turns logic, and he gets his just reward. Senta Berger is something similar, but she is closer and more familiar with the Italian style, she fits in even as the rather cheap slut she is under all her elegance, but also she gets her just reward. They all do, and that's the wonder and point of this sparkling film, which gets better all the time as the plot thickens in constantly wrong directions. In brief, it's classical hilarious entertainment with some very wise indications by the finger of both fortune and fate. You get disgusted by the torpid enterprise, but you learn something on the way and end up the wiser from this awesome experience of not only laughters on the way.

Of course, if you are Italian or understand Italian and even the Napolitan dialect, the film will be doubly entertaining, because if you don't you will not understand everything, since much is untranslatable.

Perhaps an unknown fact from occidental people is about the whole Italy territory is split in two completely different kind of people, the north rich and advanced and south Italy, where the real people be proud to doesn't make part of the great Italy, Naples should be the south's capital, just an introduction, when arrives at Naples an American gang leaded by Jack (Harry Guardino) and his gorgeous girlfriend Maggie (Senta Berger) willing to do a dared robbery at San Genaro's treasure, they asking for a famous Mob's leader Don Vicenzo (The Funny Totó) sadly he was in jail almost retired, then he suggest your inheritor Dudu (Nino Manfred) as Naple's criminal underworld, when they introduces each other, the American gang didn't tell the target of the robbery, however later they have to talk about of San Genaro's treasure, Dudu a hard passionate of this Saint denies such heresy, should be with his own permission only, then he goes to the church to asking for Saint Genaro itself his concordance, already promising to him all gathered money will be for Naples's poor people, this an ingenious comic picture exploring the Italian faith, almost a hundred colorful characters scattered along the movie, in every single scene, specially Totó and Mario Adorf, the final sequence goes beyond of the human insanity!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

In the greatest city of the world someone wants to steal the San Gennaro's treasure. Dudu (Nino Manfredi) boss of "La Sanità" (a popular quarter of Naples) is taking time to make the right choice: can they succeed? is it really a great occasion? will San Gennaro be happy? The comedy let us understand lot of things about the city of Naples and its habits: superstitious practices, amazing people (like "the baron": the only man who has the heart on the right) and their passion for music (the Festival of Neapolitan song, and the great singer Sergio Bruni, he always wants to be the last to sing)... And TOTO', playing the role of DON VINCENZO IL FENOMENO: a genius.

In this caper movie there are lots of bonafide scenes , comedy , action , tongue-in-cheek and twisted intrigue . An American gangster (Harry Guardino) and his girlfriend (Senta Berger) in Italy enlist a local gang led by Armanduccio 'Dudù' Girasole (Nino Manfredi) and his hoodlums (Pinuccio Ardia , Ugo Fangareggi, Ralf Wolter , Totò as Don Vincenzo, among others) to help him steal the treasure of Naples' patron saint. Winner of the Naples Crime Festival . They planned a crime so perfect that only a miracle could stop it and did. There's no crime like the present. .

This fun flick displays suspense , giggles , slick and not-so-slick criminals , gorgeous dames and results to be very bemusing . From the beginning until ending the good mood and humor is continued . The plot is very amusing and the final has got an extraordinary surprise . Delightful and enjoyable are the perfect words to describe this film . One of the best Italian intrigue/caper movies ever made along with ¨Rififi¨ by Mario Monicelli , ¨Seven Golden Men by Marco Vicario , its sequel : "Seven Golden Men Strike Again¨ and adding the classic ¨Topkapi¨ by Jules Dassin . The highlight and great climax , of course , is the heist which is developed with imposing tension , hilarious scenes and intrigue . This picture along with ¨Topkapi¨ created during the 60s and forward an authentic genre . This decent film deals with a bungling team of robbers undertaking a hard mission and at the same time it describes the Italian reality by that time . It's a comedy/satire with surprising finale and one of the best Italian comedies of the 60s . The picture does a perfect portrayal of the main roles and well accompanied by a charming support cast . The personality of hustler Nino Manfredi/Armanduccio is special , he's a crook who has failed at everything , as he spends all his time planning swindles and mistreats his gorgeous sweetheart , Claudine Auger, as she serves as counterpoint to his disconcerting personality . Other characters are magnificently interpreted by the American mobster Harry Guardino , bombshell Senta Berger and Totó playing in his usual style .

All the screenplay develops a gentle humor but steady, which does to maintain the smile throughout the movie while showing a portrait of a wonderful Naples of the 60s , which includes the sensational musical score by Armando Trovajoli , including some traditional songs , and other sounds of those years, happy and funny . Furthermore , an evocative and colorful cinematography by cameraman Aldo Tonti . It is a motion picture in which I have entertained a lot, a great wisdom of its director and writer Dino Risi along with others as actor/writer Nino Manfredi himself , Baracco and prolific Ennio De Concini . Risi is an expert on ¨Comedia allá Italiana¨, such as he proved in ¨How funny can be sex?¨, ¨Tiger and the pussycat¨, ¨Scent of a woman¨ that had an American remake with Al Pacino , Chris O'Donnell and , of course , ¨The easy life¨ or its original title ¨Il Sorpasso¨, a tragic-comedy that achieved a big success. This fast moving , intrigue thriller yarn titled Operazione San Gennaro (1966) will appeal to comedy enthusiasts and robbery genre fans . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable , though uneven Napolitan comedy . Well worth watching .