Saint John, the Beheaded

Saint John, the Beheaded (Italian: San Giovanni decollato) is a 1940 Italian comedy film directed by Amleto Palermi and Giorgio Bianchi and starring Totò, Titina De Filippo and Silvana Jachino. It was based on a play by Nino Martoglio. The film was made at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome.

Saint John, the Beheaded (San Giovanni decollato)
Directed by	Amleto Palermi Giorgio Bianchi
Written by	Nino Martoglio (play) Aldo Vergano Cesare Zavattini Amleto Palermi
Produced by	Liborio Capitani
Starring	Totò Titina De Filippo Silvana Jachino Franco Coop
Cinematography	Fernando Risi
Edited by	Duilio A. Lucarelli
Music by	Alexandre Derevitsky
Production company	Produzione Capitani Film
Distributed by	ENIC
Release date	12 December 1940 (1940-12-12)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

San Giovanni decollato or Saint John the Baptist's head on a platter, was a common religious motif from the Middle Ages on, parodied in the film's poster.

Plot

In a town, near Naples, in 1900, the cobbler Agostino Miciacio is accused by tenants of his apartment building to be crazy. In fact Agostino is a lively man, mocked by everyone because he is messy. He is very devoted to John the Baptist, so Agostino lights a candle every night in a small chapel in the courtyard. But some of the oil in the wax necessary for the luminary, disappears every night. It is a fact that Agostino does not tolerate theft, but he does not know that behind these thefts continue, there is a gang of thugs. Meanwhile, Agostino, in addition to following the case of oil stolen, must fight against the daughter Serafina who has fallen in love with a poor young lamplighter. But he also has to fight against his wife Concetta, authoritative and cruel woman, so he hopes that St. John makes a grace for him, taking away her voice.

Cast

• Totò as mastro Agostino Miciacio
• Titina De Filippo as Concetta, la moglie
• Silvana Jachino as Serafina, la figlia
• Franco Coop as don Raffaele, il barbiere
• Osvaldo Genazzani as Giorgio Maria Santapaola, il fidanzato di Serafina
• Bella Starace Sainati as nonna Provvidenza
• Eduardo Passarelli as Orazio, il lampionaio
• Augusto Di Giovanni as don Peppino Esposito
• Mario Siletti as Teodoro Cupis, l'amministratore
• Giacomo Almirante as il pretore
• Oreste Bilancia as testimone al processo
• Peppino Villani as inquilino del vaglia
• Peppino Spadaro as mastro Vincenzo, il calzolaio
• Grazia Spadaro as Rosalia
• Dina Romano as donna Filomena, la cartomante
• Renato Chiantoni as l'avvocato difensore
• Gorella Gori as testimone al processo
• Edmondo Starace as cancelliere
• Maso Marcellini as don Benedetto
• Vincenzo Fummo as inquilino
• Mario Ersanilli as ometto dalla barba bianca
• Emilio Petacci as il Pubblico Ministero Lanzetti
• Raffaele Balsamo as inquilino del palazzo
• Liliana De Curtis as bambina che ritira le scarpe protestando sul prezzo
• Milla Papa

Bibliography

• Moliterno, Gino. Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema. Scarecrow Press, 2008.

External links

• Saint John, the Beheaded at IMDb