Directed by Luchino Visconti
Burt Lancaster was not Luchino Visconti's first choice for the proud Sicilian prince at the center of his sumptuous, CinemaScope epic set during the convulsive 1860s Risorgimento that transformed Italy into a unified nation. Even after watching Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Visconti, according to Lancaster, only offered, "Well, maybe." The production proved challenging for both but the result is a towering landmark of postwar cinema. Lancaster delivers the performance of his career as the dignified aristocrat holding fast to aristocratic values in the face of inexorable change.
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. Producer: Goffredo Lombardo. Based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Screenwriters: Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Enrico Medioli, Massimo Franciosa, L. Visconti. Cinematographer: Giuseppe Rotunno. Editor: Mario Serandrei. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli.
35mm, color, in Italian with English subtitles, 187 min.
