Dino Risi‘s 1960 film ‘Il mattatore‘ (or ‘Love and Larceny‘ in the English distribution) belongs to a period in which comedies that were popular with the public and quality films were not disjoint categories. At a time when French cinema was embarking on the Nouvelle Vague and in Italy Michelangelo Antonioni was experimenting with translating existentialist solitudes onto the screen, popular cinema filled the halls with great historical productions and comedies. Along with Toto and Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman was among the most successful actors of the genre. ‘Il mattatore‘ is inspired by a television show in which the popular actor (who nevertheless came from the classical drama theater!) had fun and entertained the audience with impersonations that sometimes made him unrecognizable. This is what he does in the film, but using the pretext of the biography of a con man who uses his acting talent for all kinds of deceptions, some spectacular. It was the first of about 15 films that Dino Risi would direct with Gassman in the cast. The film was a success in its time and its title became the popular actor’s nickname.
The narrative thread is rather thin, providing the pretext for a series of episodes written by several of the genre’s talented Italian screenwriters, including Ettore Scola. Gerardo is a former actor and former con man whom his wife Annalisa seems to have brought back to the honesty path. When a swindler knocks on his door trying to rob him, Gerardo immediately recognizes the ruse and after recovering his loss, he tells him about his past marked by increasingly daring acts. In all of those he used his talent as an actor and impersonator to play various ‘roles’ from the son of a rich man from Bologna or a Polish immigrant to a telephone technician or an aviation general. It is, of course, the opportunity for Gassman to let loose by transforming the film into his personal show.
Not all the episodes have stood the test of time and the comic impact is certainly different nowadays from that of 1960. Scenes that probably then raised laughter in the halls, now perhaps only elicit a smile. Gone is the actuality element of social satire, replaced by interest in situations that have become historical and especially by the retro charm of an actor of the power and versatility of Vittorio Gassman. My favorite scene is the one in which Gerardo, having arrived in prison, entertains his fellow inmates with a personal stand-up version of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. Meeting Gassman (again?) makes it worth the time spent watching or rewatching this film.