16 Feb The Secret of Santa Vittoria
The Secret of Santa Vittoria, WWII Movie starring Anthony Quinn
(1969) An Italian village hides one million bottles of wine from the advancing German army. When I saw the opening scenes of the beautiful little hilltown Italian village with townspeople who looked just like my (Italian) husband’s relatives I made him watch The Secret of Santa Vittoria with me.
The movie is based on a 1966 novel of the same name by Robert Crichton who served in the infantry during WWII. The Secret of Santa Vittoria was on the New York Times bestseller list for 50 weeks. The topic reminded me of another book I have: Wine & War: The French, The Nazis & the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, the story of the French people’s extraordinary efforts to save their wine.
Instead of shooting this film at the then-too-modernized town of Santa Vittoria Director/Producer Stanley Kramer (Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Inherit the Wind) chose Anticoli Corrado, a quaint village near Rome. It was perfect.
The cast for this spirited comedy includes Anthony Quinn as Mayor and Anna Magnani as his wife. German actor Hardy Krüger plays the Captain who wants the wine.
He knows it’s there.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria at amazon.com
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