Totò

Born: 1898-02-14

Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century.  While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy. As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.  At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style.    In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.


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Big Deal on Madonna Street

as Dante Cruciani
Released: 1958-07-26

Best friends Peppe and Mario are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks...

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The Hawks and the Sparrows

as Totò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
Released: 1966-05-04

A man and his son take an allegorical stroll through life with a talking bird that spouts social...

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The Treasure of San Gennaro

as Don Vincenzo
Released: 1966-11-25

A pair of Americans want to perform the greatest robbery: the treasure of San Genaro, in Napoli.

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The Overtaxed

as Torquato Pezzella
Released: 1959-04-10

Mr. Pezzella owns and operates a well-established luxury-clothing store. He does not like and...

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The Witches

as Ciancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
Released: 1967-02-22

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress...

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The Band of Honest Men

as Antonio Buonocore
Released: 1956-04-12

Italy, mid '60s. Three guys from a poor neighbourhood try to get rich by printing fake money...

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Totò Sexy

as Nini Cantachiaro
Released: 1963-09-05

Two strange street musicians end up in jail and exchange sexy stories to while away time.

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Poverty and Nobility

as Don Felice Sciosciammocca
Released: 1954-04-17

Eugene, a young nobleman, asks two penniless idlers to impersonate his noble relatives to help...

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Totòtruffa '62

as Antonio LoRuffo
Released: 1961-08-12

Antonio, a former variety actor, keeps his daughter in an excellent boarding school by...

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Slave Girl

as Gobbone il cammello (narratore)
Released: 1947-07-17

Tongue-in-cheek adventure tale of an American attempting to free sailors held as hostages and...

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Destinazione Piovarolo

as Antonio La Quaglia
Released: 1955-12-16

Antonio La Quaglia becomes the railroader in Piovarolo during 1922 meanwhile the fascism is...

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The Passionate Thief

as Umberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
Released: 1960-10-12

On New Year's Eve, a young woman and an out-of-work actor complicate a pickpocket's plans to ply...

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The Monk of Monza

as Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
Released: 1963-03-29

Pasquale takes all of his 12 children and runs away from Monza, looking for a house of a wealthy...

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Totò diabolicus

as Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
Released: 1962-04-07

The marquis Galeazzo di Torre Alta is murdered by a mysterious killer who calls himself...

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Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge

as Antonio
Released: 1956-12-21

Antonio and Peppino live in a small town in central Italy: Peppino is the barber, Totò is...

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Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy

as Antonio Caponi
Released: 1956-08-23

Antonio, Peppino and Lucia are three brothers who live in the country near Naples. Lucia's son,...

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Toto the Sheik

as Antonio Sapone
Released: 1950-11-30

Antonio is the humble servant of a rich family governed by the Marquis Gastone. He is a young...

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The Shortest Day

as frate bersagliere
Released: 1963-02-14

Two jerks are enlisted in the Italian army during W.W.1 and by pure luck manage to help win an...

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La cambiale

as Cesare Posalaquaglia
Released: 1959-11-19

The Posalaquaglia cousins are two small scammers and make a living of expedients: Dante receives...

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Totò Double or Nothing?

as Duca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
Released: 1956-05-03

The penniless Duke decides to participate in "Lascia o raddoppia", a TV quiz show, in order to...

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The Mandrake

as il frate
Released: 1965-11-18

A young man hatches a plan to sleep with another man's infertile wife. Based on the play by...

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Totò le Mokò

as Antonio Lumaconi / Totò le Moko
Released: 1949-12-20

Mobster Pepé Le Mokò dies during a shootout with the police. His gang decide that his successor...

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Caprice Italian Style

as Anziano Signore / Iago
Released: 1968-04-13

The film consists of six short stories created by different directors, but all the stories share...

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Le motorizzate

as Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
Released: 1963-08-15

Five episodes about women drivers during the economic boom.

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The Gold of Naples

as Don Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
Released: 1954-12-03

Tribute to Naples, where director De Sica spent his first years, this is a collection of six...

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Totò d'Arabia

as Totò
Released: 1965-02-18

Toto, a former Italian military servant who works as a servant at the British Intelligence...

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Neapolitan Turk

as Felice Sciosciammocca
Released: 1953-09-16

Naples/Sorrento, mid 20s. A couple of small thieves conceive a scam whereby one of them dresses...

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Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor

as Michele Spillone detto Mike
Released: 1957-12-23

The fake private detective Mike Spillone is hired by two old ladies to find out if Brigitte, the...

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You're on Your Own

as Il nonno illuminato
Released: 1959-09-04

In post war Italy during the fifties it is very difficult to find a house to rent and a family...

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Cops and Robbers

as Ferdinando Esposito
Released: 1951-11-29

Esposito is a thief who cons tourists in Rome. Officer Bottoni manages to catch him and starts...

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Totò vs the Four

as commissario Antonio Saracino
Released: 1963-03-07

The day of Chief Constable Saracino begins badly when his new car is stolen. Then, in his...

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Toto Tours Italy

as Prof. Totò Casamandrei
Released: 1948-12-30

A professor was appointed member of the jury of a beauty contest and falls for a beautiful...

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The Law Is the Law

as Giuseppe La Paglia
Released: 1958-09-17

Assola is an imaginary village on the border between Italy and France and the borderline crosses...

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He Who Hesitates Is Lost

as Antonio Guardalavecchia
Released: 1960-12-15

After their boss' death, two clerks eagerly await the arrival of the next one, each one of them...

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Toto in Madrid

as Totò Scorceletti
Released: 1959-02-06

When the swindler La Spada and his accomplice José come out of jail in Madrid, they decide to...

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Naples '44

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2016-12-15

A British Intelligence Officer in Naples at the end of World War II: Norman Lewis's acknowledged...

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Totò Story

as uncredited
Released: 1968-01-01

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The Two Marshals

as Antonio Capurro
Released: 1961-12-22

September 1943: in the general confusion a thief dressed as a priest and a sergeant exchange...

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Animal Crackers

as Barone Tolomeo dei Tolomei
Released: 1939-04-01

After several unsuccessful suicide attempts, Totò finds himself in an animal asylum.

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Totò cerca casa

as Beniamino Lomacchio
Released: 1949-12-09

Beniamino and his family have lived inside a school since the end of the war. After five years...

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Tototarzan

as Antonio Della Buffas
Released: 1950-10-31

Roaming the vast jungles of Congo with his best friend, Bongo the gorilla, Antonio della Buffas,...

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Signori si nasce

as Ottone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
Released: 1960-04-28

Baron Zazà, always broke due his dissolute lifestyle, decides to con a hefty sum of money out of...

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What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?

as Totò Baby / il Padre
Released: 1964-08-21

A pair of brothers, Baby Toto and Pietro, sons of different mothers, live stealing suitcases at...

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The Thieves

as Commissario Di Savio
Released: 1959-06-27

An Italian-American mobster is sent back to Naples from the States. He moves to Italy with all...

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Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today

as Cavalier Antonio Cocozza
Released: 1960-08-18

A boy and a girl fall in love but their fathers take a strong dislike to each other, clashing...

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Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino

as Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
Released: 1962-09-08

Antonio goes to West Berlin and meets Giuseppe. But Antonio looks like Canarinis, a wanted war...

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Roman Tales

as Professor Semprini
Released: 1955-12-21

Alvaro is been in jail and so he consider himself the most fit to lead his three friends Mario,...

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Legs of Gold

as Barone Luigi Fontana
Released: 1958-08-27

Baron Luigi Fontana is a rich and stinging producer of fine wines, as well as president of the...

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The Emperor of Capri

as Antonio De Fazio
Released: 1949-12-16

Beautiful gold-digger Sonia mistakes Antonio, a waiter in a Neapolitan hotel, for Arab Prince...

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Two Colonels

as Colonnello Di Maggio
Released: 1963-01-05

In WWII Greece, two enemy Colonels, one Italian and the other English, develop a grudging...

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Totò contro Maciste

as Totokamen
Released: 1962-02-28

Totokamen is an entertainer and an illusionist who performs in various Egyptian nightclubs...

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Toto and the Women

as Antonio Scaparro
Released: 1952-12-20

Antonio Scaparro (Toto) is obsessed for women. He invents his own way to hide from them - in the...

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Il coraggio

as Gennaro Vaccariello
Released: 1955-12-24

A wealthy trader saves the life of a poor suicidal man who then decides that his savior has the...

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Lo smemorato di Collegno

as lo smemorato
Released: 1962-09-07

A man is hospitalized in a neurological clinic, suffering from amnesia. After seeing his photo...

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Gli onorevoli

as Antonio La Trippa
Released: 1963-10-10

Some political candidates are determined to win the electors' preference during an election...

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Toto and the Kings of Rome

as Ercole Pappalardo
Released: 1952-10-15

An aging, down-and-out public employee must face the primary school examination.

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I tre ladri

as Tapioca
Released: 1954-09-27

Tapioca, a small-time thief, hides out in an elegant apartment, where he is soon joined by...

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Toto and Carolina

as Antonio Caccavallo
Released: 1955-03-02

During a police raid at Villa Borghese, the agent, a widower named Antonio Caccavallo, stays to...

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Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life

as Antonio Barbacane
Released: 1961-03-23

Antonio goes to Rome to represent his fellow peasants, to request a highway that will be built...

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Are We Men or Corporals?

as Totò Esposito
Released: 1955-08-26

These are the years of the Second World War, and Toto is imprisoned in a concentration camp,...

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Totó in color

as Antonio Scannagatti
Released: 1952-04-08

In the first Italian film to be shot in color, Totò portrays a musician named Antonio...

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Il medico dei pazzi

as Felice Sciosciammocca
Released: 1954-10-19

Felice Sciosciammocca, the mayor of Roccasecca, sends his nephew Ciccillo to Naples so that he...

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Toto and Cleopatra

as Marc'Antonio / Totonno
Released: 1963-09-05

Mark Antony has a brother-lookalike, Totonno, a sinister slave trader. Totonno secretly replaces...

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Noi duri

as L'Algerino
Released: 1960-02-24

Lieutenant Bombardone is in Paris to wipe out a gang of drug traffickers.

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47 Talking Corpses

as Il barone Antonio Peletti
Released: 1950-12-22

Greedy Baron Antonio Peletti refuses to give to his town the heredity left by his father, a box...

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Toto in Paris

as Marchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
Released: 1958-10-23

Duclos's son, a worldly gangster, is compromised in a case of which he is innocent. The proof of...

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Letto a tre piazze

as Antonio Di Cosimo
Released: 1960-09-09

Antonio married Amalia and went to fight in Russia during World War II. Since he didn't return...

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We Are Cinema

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-12-16

An Italian documentary about Italian cinema.

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Of Life and Love

as Rosario Chiarchiaro
Released: 1954-02-03

A film made up of four episodes: a jar repairer gets trapped in a vat because of his hunch; a...

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Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche

as Antonio Vignarello
Released: 1958-08-22

A psychiatric-clinic medical director runs some tests on two patients, the Ragionier Antonio...

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Totò nella Luna

as Pasquale Belafronte
Released: 1958-11-28

Two men embarks upon a space race. Their efforts are hampered by aliens who clone the heroes to...

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What Are the Clouds?

as Iago
Released: 1968-04-12

Some puppets come to life in a theater with no windows. This time the puppets interpret William...

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Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca

as (archive footage)
Released: 1975-07-14

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Totò all'inferno

as Antonio Marchi
Released: 1955-03-16

After several attempts at suicide, depressed thief Antonio Marchi accidentally drowns in a river...

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Totò cerca pace

as Gennaro Piselli
Released: 1954-12-17

Two widowers decide to get married but their decision is continually hampered by their...

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Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare

as Dott. Biagio Tanzarella
Released: 1961-03-30

A petty thief pretends he is Mussolini's personal physician, wins the confidence of a family,...

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Fifa e arena

as Nicolino Capece
Released: 1948-11-23

In Napoli, Nicolino Capece, a truthful pharmacist clerk becomes erroneously recognized as a...

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Side Street Story

as Pasquale Miele
Released: 1950-09-21

A combination of a satire on war and a comedy with war as the background. It tells of the...

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Totò contro il pirata nero

as Josè
Released: 1964-03-27

José is a Neapolitan petty thief who escapes from the guards and hides himself in a barrel of...

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Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-05-16

Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past....

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I due orfanelli

as Gasparre
Released: 1947-11-26

In 19th-century France, middle-aged orphans Gasparre and Battista, watchmen at an orphanage,...

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The Anatomy of Love

as Dionillo
Released: 1954-03-16

Nine episodes about life in Italy in the period just before its economic boom.

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Where Is Freedom?

as Salvatore Lojacono
Released: 1954-03-05

A barber, murderer because of jealousy, spends twenty years in jail. He cannot, however adjust...

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Le sei mogli di Barbablù

as Totò Esposito
Released: 1950-11-10

Young swain Toto Esposito tries to abduct his beloved to marry her, but he makes a mistake: he...

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Latin Lovers

as Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
Released: 1965-08-11

The film is composed of five episodes which depict Italians' love lives in the 1960s.

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The Commandant

as Col. Antonio Cavalli
Released: 1963-12-23

The retired general Antonio Cavalli is a nuisance to his family: to his wife Francesca who still...

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Toto the Third Man

as Piero / Paolo / Totò
Released: 1951-09-23

In a small village two twin brothers are of opposite characters. One is mayor of the town, gruff...

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Totò nella fossa dei leoni

as Totò
Released: 1943-05-31

The explorer Smith leaves with Laura, a beautiful but naive girl, in search of Professor Berti,...

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The Firemen of Viggiù

as Totò
Released: 1949-04-16

In the village of Viggiù, the firemen organize various skits and performances in their theater,...

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Risate all'italiana

as uncredited
Released: 1964-07-15

A sort of best of popular comedy skits from previous films by various directors.

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Totò cerca moglie

as Totò
Released: 1950-03-15

Aunt Agatha writes to Toto, informing him that she won't send him another penny until he is married.

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Yvonne of the Night

as Nino, il fantasista
Released: 1949-11-24

Carlo Rutelli falls in love with the beautiful variety singer Yvonne la Nuit, but his father...

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Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2020-04-12

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Figaro qua... Figaro là

as Figaro
Released: 1950-10-12

In the 18th century, Figaro the Sevillian barber is likely to be arrested because he operates...

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Rita the American Girl

as Serafino Benvenuti
Released: 1965-12-02

Professor Serafino Benvenuti is a master of classical music who has the passion of the orchestra...

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Sette ore di guai

as Totò De Pasquale
Released: 1951-10-17

Totò is a tailor but not a great tailor. He is married and his son is to be baptized and Totò...

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L'allegro fantasma

as Nicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
Released: 1941-03-16

The noble Pantaleo Di Santa Paola has just died, and the preamble to his will is a confession in...

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Toto at Night

as Nini
Released: 1962-10-25

Nini and Mimi are strolling musicians-bassist. For days they are playing on the streets of Rome....

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Beautiful Families

as Filiberto Comanducci
Released: 1964-12-26

The film's theme is four episodes that offer the public a glimpse into the lives of rich and...

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Hands Off Me!

as Conte Toto di Torretota
Released: 1937-03-06

In his first feature, great Italian clown Totò plays a carefree tramp moving from job to job, in...

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Man, Beast and Virtue

as Prof. Paolino
Released: 1953-05-09

Paolino, a teacher at an elementary school near Naples, appears nervous for a few days and his...

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Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli

as Totò, la guida non autorizzata
Released: 1967-06-12

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The Rape of the Sabine

as Aristide Tromboni
Released: 1945-11-21

Ernesto is the teacher of the village, he is married and he is dominated by his wife. He has the...

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Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare

as uncredited
Released: 1967-06-28

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San Giovanni decollato

as Mastro Agostino Miciacio
Released: 1940-12-12

Mastr'Antonio Miciaccio caretaker and shoemaker is devoted to Saint John Beheaded and is trying...

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Toto and Marcellino

as Il Professore
Released: 1958-04-22

Marcellino becomes an orphan and finds two uncles--a good old eccentric man and a villain.

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Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye

as musicista capellone
Released: 1967-05-31

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Funniest Show on Earth

as Tottons
Released: 1953-11-12

A clown named Tottons of the Togni circus, obliged to never take off his clown makeup or reveal...

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Variety carousel

as uncredited
Released: 1955-02-08

A painter gives his daughter a television set for her 18th birthday. On the evening of the...

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Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak

as Totò l'agente segreto
Released: 1967-06-07

Toto participates in various samples in a study of cinema, first going in a studio where there's...

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Una di quelle

as Rocco Bardelli
Released: 1953-10-08

Rocco and his brother Martino are two rich country-estate owners who descend upon the city in...

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Il latitante

as Gennaro La Pezza
Released: 1967-05-04

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Tutto Totò - La scommessa

as Oberdan Lo Cascio
Released: 1967-01-31

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Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel

as il professor Serafino Bolletta
Released: 1967-01-01

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Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro

as Mardoccheo Stonatelli
Released: 1967-04-10

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Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino

as Barnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
Released: 1967-01-01

Barnabas, said Don Giovannino, is a true lover of beautiful women. One day he chases a beautiful...

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Fermo con le mani

as Totò di Torretota
Released:

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The Earth As Seen from the Moon

as Ciancicato Miao
Released: 1967-02-22

Ciancicato Miao and his son, after the death of his wife and mother by mushroom poisoning, are...

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Antologia di Totò

as Totò (se stesso)
Released: 1978-01-01

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Cinépanorama

as Self
First aired: 1956-02-04

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