Shoes

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1888-11-11

Place of Birth

Catania, Italy

Giovanni Grasso

Known for

The Queen's Lover

The Queen's Lover

Exiled from the court of Spain, Don Salluste, the chief of police, wants to take revenge on the Queen. One day he meets Ruy Blas, a young student who happens to be a lookalike of Don Cesar, his nephew. Salluste disguises Ruy Blas and presents him as Don Cesar. It doesn't take long before Ruy Blas, intelligent, virtuous and generous as he is becomes popular and the Queen, who has fallen in love with him, appoints him Prime Minister. All seems for the best in the best of worlds but Salluste has not forgotten his revenge, far from that ...

Small Hotel

Small Hotel

Piccolo Hotel (aka Small Hotel) uses the titular establishment to weave together a vast tapestry of subplots, a la Grand Hotel. The guests include a domineering mother (Lola Braccini), her petulant daughter (Bianca Doria) and the daughter's gigolo boyfriend (Guido Notari). Also on hand is a worldly vamp (Laura Nucci) who also falls for the boyfriend, and the chronic-gambler son (Andrea Checchi) of the hotel's self-sacrificing landlady (Emma Grammatica). Though the film is set in Budapest, the characters are more Mediterranean than mittel-European. Piccolo Hotel was one of the entries in the Vienna Biennial Film Festival.

Melody of Love

Melody of Love

A comedy with lots of Neapolitan songs and shots of the Bay of Naples finds Maria Morelli unable to marry her singing sailor/lover, Giacomo because her father, Don Salvatdore Morelli objects. She can't elope because her father has an heart ailment and uses it to hold Maria. Giacomo misunderstands and takes off on a global singing tour.

La figlia del peccato

La figlia del peccato

The Conquest of the Air

The Conquest of the Air

A sweeping, cinematic pseudo-documentary history of human flight, starting with the failed attempt of Icarus, and ending with the aviation triumphs of the fascist regime.

Times Gone By

Times Gone By

A number of different segments taken from 19th century Italian stories.

Rondini in volo

Rondini in volo

Ragazza che dorme

Ragazza che dorme

In a village, rumours spread that a treasure is hidden nearby. To finance the search, a farmer sells a 14th-century painting of the Madonna, leaving it with a master restorer. The farmer's daughter, who felt a particular veneration for the sacred image, goes to the restorer's workshop to see the painting of the Madonna again and falls asleep in front of it. While the girl is asleep, the restorer begins to paint her portrait, which he will title "Sleeping Girl." In the end, the girl and the painter will marry and be able to keep the painting with them.

Of Life and Love

Of Life and Love

A film made up of four episodes: a jar repairer gets trapped in a vat because of his hunch; a young unmarried mother is forced to beg to buy herself a fan; Rosario Chiarchiaro appears before a law court for casting spells; the discomfort of an overtight jacket gives a wedding witness the strength to persuade the bridegroom's reluctant parents to bless his union.

Il principe ribelle

Il principe ribelle

The Age of Indiscretion

The Age of Indiscretion

In a small provincial Italian town, a fifteen-year-old boy meets and falls in love with a girl.

The Gates of Heaven

The Gates of Heaven

Episodic film with flashbacks about the lives of some sick and infirm people travelling on the same train, making a pilgrimage to the shine of Our Lady of Loreto.

Fugitive in Trieste

Fugitive in Trieste

An Italian Air Force officer is pursued and captured by the Allied police and is charged with the bombing of a hospital ship. Through the efforts of his sweetheart, a witness is found who proves the bombing was not intentional but the result of being hit by enemy fire. A four-way romantic involvement is also part of the mix that includes an Allied officer and Viennse beauty Lida. The latter was once in love with the accused and has a child by him.

Toto and Carolina

Toto and Carolina

During a police raid at Villa Borghese, the agent, a widower named Antonio Caccavallo, stays to get better acquainted with the young Carolina.

Il fanciullo del West

Il fanciullo del West

Comedy Western