The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1969
PG-13
2h 19m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

4.3K

YOUR RATING

Anthony Quinn, Virna Lisi, and Anna Magnani in The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

Play trailer3:33

1 Video

65 Photos

Satire Comedy Drama War

During WWII in Italy, a wine-producing village hides a million bottles from the GermansDuring WWII in Italy, a wine-producing village hides a million bottles from the GermansDuring WWII in Italy, a wine-producing village hides a million bottles from the Germans

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

4.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 1 win & 8 nominations total

Trivia
The Italian crew was so upset over the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, which occurred during the shoot, that they dedicated an extra hour of work in his memory. The letter from the Italian workers' union read, "the best way to honor the memory of a man of action is by action." Producer-director Stanley Kramer replied with the following announcement: "The decision of the Italian crew of The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) to dedicate one extra hour of work to the memory of Robert Kennedy has no parallel in motion-picture history. The American group in Anticoli Corrado is deeply honored to know you and privileged to be your coworkers."

Goofs
About 20 minutes in, when Bombolini is dangling from the water tower, he is holding onto the rope with only one hand in long shots but with both hands in close-ups.

Quotes
Padre Polenta: [Bombolini wants the priest to pray for the rain to stop while the villagers move the wine] Nobody ever prays for sun, they only pray for rain.
Babbaluche: In Noah's ark, people prayed for rain?
Padre Polenta: That was before organized religion.
Babbaluche: Sure, all they had was God, the poor bastards.

Connections
Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: Alfred Molina (2007)

Soundtracks
The Song of Santa Vittoria (Stay)
Music by Ernest Gold
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Sung by Sergio Franchi

User reviews42

Review

Featured review

A Well Kept Secret

I read "The Secret Of Santa Vittoria" about ten years ago and I thought it would make a good movie. It turned out that Stanley Kramer had the same idea back in 1968. The movie is a bit uneven, but I thought there were some good moments. The film did a good job of showing the people of the town hiding the wine in the old cave. Their exhaustive work indicated how important and vital the wine was to the town. Anthony Quinn may have been a bit too broad in certain scenes. Also, there's something in his screen persona that indicates a forceful personality that seems to contradict the clownishness of his character. I liked Hardy Kruger and thought there was a little more to his character than the usual one dimensional evil Nazi seen in a million other World War II films. Apparently Anna Magnani really didn't care much for Quinn. In the scene where she repeatedly kicked him she broke her foot. The real town of Santa Vittoria was not chosen as the location because it was too modern in appearance by 1968, so the the beautiful and atmospheric town of Anticoli Corrado was chosen as the location.