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In reply to the discussion: Do you have a favorite "little-known" movie? [View all]soldierant
(8,847 posts)Saw it when was in high school (graduated in 62) It was a WWII movie, mostly in Italian but some German bit with subtitles. Triple-A list European actors from both countries for the title character (sort of) and the German commander.
It's about a con man whose income, like everyone's, has been negatively affected by the war. He bears a resemblance to the General, and is arrested by Germans as being the General. He is coerced into pretending to be the General (since con men can pretend to be anything). His German captors want to use him to identify another important figure in the resistance whom they believe to be in the prison they put him in. His demeanor, behavior, and words help give confidence to other Italian POWs, and seeing the difference he can make makes a difference in him. . In the end, he takes it all the way, is shot by a firing squad after being allowed to speak some inspiring last words and requesting a photo be given to "his" family. If this reminds you of Sydney Carton in "Tale of Two Cities," it did me too. But so many details are different and peculiar to the time make it a very different experience.
It may not be "little-known" in Europe, but it surely is little known here in the States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Della_Rovere
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