Mario Monicelli R.I.P.

Mario Monicelli, the Italian director responsible for Big Deal on Madonna Street (the Italian title is I Soliti Ignoti, or Persons Unknown), committed suicide on Monday. He was 95 years old and was being treated at a Rome hospital for what The New York Times characterized as a "pancreatic condition that appeared terminal."

Monicelli was credited with directing 65 pictures in his career. He was generally considered a master of Italian film comedy, working with actors such as Alberto Sordi, Toto, and Marcello Mastroianni (shown at right in I Soliti Ignoti).

One of Monicelli's last public appearances this year was for the funeral of the great screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico.

The YouTube link connects to a 2008 television interview with Monicelli. It shows an engaged, intelligent person still quite active at age 93, and not simply coasting on his considerable laurels.

Suso Cecchi D'Amico -- RIP, Part Two

The Italian press service ANSA provided an English language article on Suso Cecchi D'Amico's funeral service in Rome. Director Mario Monicelli, shown below, spoke at the service. He's 95 years old; D'Amico passed away at age 96.

Robert F. Boyle and Suso Cecchi D'Amico Obits

A tough day for the movies, as two giants in their respective cinematic fields passed away.

The LA Times obituary on Boyle talks about Boyle's career with some feeling.

Robert Boyle was a great production designer. He designed, among other incredible feats, the Mt. Rushmore scene in North by Northwest. Boyle began under the wing of Hans Dreier, one of Hollywood's legendary art directors. Nominated for 23 Academy Awards during his lifetime, Dreier won an Oscar for Sunset Boulevard. Twenty-three!

Suso Cecchi D'Amico's fingerprints were all over Italian post-war cinema. The Italian directors who worked with her form a Who's Who of that time. Her best known work was with Luchino Visconti, notably Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). At their best, her scripts displayed carefully conceived structure, a strong sense of human drama, brains, and useful insight into our shared condition. She was also the rare woman who successfully navigated the very male, very willful world of Italian movie making. In the photograph, she's talking to Anna Magnani; I believe Visconti is the bug-eyed man looking at D'Amico.