Il successo

1963's "The Success" (Il Successo) reunites Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant, the stars of Dino Risi's "The Easy Life" ("Il Sorpasso") from the previous year, only here Gassman pretty much gets the lion's share of footage from director Mauro Morassi. Ambition gets the better of Gassman's Giulio, despite a loving wife (Anouk Aimee), billiard playing best friend (Trintignant), and a father content to live in the country with his cows and chickens. Property speculations open the door for a sweetheart deal that only requires immediate capital, and in acquiring everything he desires by lowering himself in the eyes of others Giulio loses everything he already had, no one left to appreciate his hard earned wealth. It's an age old tale done before and after yet comes off as perhaps the finest example of such, still criminally neglected compared to "The Easy Life." Director Morassi tragically never lived to do another feature, killed at age 40 in a 1966 auto accident.