Aldo Fabrizi brings Roman speech and nimble physical comedy to men who carry some sadness with them. We admire him most when humour makes their decency convincing, as it does in Rome, Open City.
Fi1m perspective
In Rome, Open City (1945), Aldo Fabrizi’s Don Pietro Pellegrini can be funny without interrupting the seriousness of the film. He plays the priest with the ease of someone who does not expect respectful silence whenever he speaks. We were moved by that ease: it lets us believe in the man before we are asked to admire his convictions. Roberto Rossellini gets something valuable from him here, a warmth that survives the film’s more emphatic writing.
His comic skills had been practised in Roman variety theatre and dialect sketches before he entered films in 1942. The early comedy Avanti c’è posto… (1942) preceded the international recognition of Rome, Open City. His distinctive Roman speech and the contrast between his bulk and sudden delicate movements could establish an ordinary man quickly. There was room for melancholy in these characters, too. Don Pietro draws on those habits, and never feels like a comedian straining to be taken seriously.
Nor did the dramatic breakthrough put an end to the comedy. He returned to Rossellini as Nicolaio in The Flowers of St. Francis (1950), then played Brigadiere Bottoni opposite Totò in Cops and Robbers (1951), whose screenplay he also co-wrote. Those repeated pairings with Totò belong to a career that continued across comedy and neorealist drama through the 1950s and 1960s. Later, as his film appearances became fewer, came Romolo Catenacci in We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974).
The screenplay of Rome, Open City, by Sergio Amidei, Rossellini and Federico Fellini, gives daily concerns room beside matters of belief. Fabrizi makes good use of that space, allowing Don Pietro to be companionable rather than permanently instructive. He and Anna Magnani give us people whose company we want to keep. The flaw is Rossellini’s tendency to underline what those performances have already shown; some of the writing is heavier than either actor needs. For a first encounter with Fabrizi, choose Rome, Open City for the company as much as the drama.
Biography
Aldo Fabrizi (born Aldo Fabbrizi) was an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and comedian. Born in Rome on 1 November 1905, he began his career on stage in 1931, achieving success in Roman revue and variety with comical sketches and monologues. He made his film debut in 1942.
Fabrizi is best known for his role as the priest Don Pietro Pellegrini in Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945). He appeared in numerous other films, often in collaboration with Totò, including Cops and Robbers (1951), The Overtaxed (1959) and Totò vs the Four (1963). He also directed several films from the late 1940s onwards and returned to prominent roles in The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) and We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974).
He received two Nastro d'Argento awards for acting and wrote screenplays for several of his projects. Fabrizi died in Rome on 2 April 1990.
