Angel In A Taxi

1494. ANGEL IN A TAXI (1959-ITALY). WITH Wera Cecova, Vittorio de Sica, marietto, cabriele FERZETTI. A charming fable with a most ingenious premise. A sweet-faced moppet named Marietto stars as a clever, mischievous six-year-old in an orphanage who longs for a mother. “Did Jesus choose his own mother?” has asks a nun. She replies in the affirmativeÑand so Marietto figures that what was good enough for Jesus is good enough for him. When a rather grotesque couple select Marietto for adoption, he looks through magazines, spots a picture Of Camilla, a beautiful ballerina, and decides that she’s to be his parent Marietto runs away to find Camilla; certainly, the ballerina will be quite shocked to discover that she has “sired’ this ragamuffin with a one-track mind. “The cast is sprinkled with several familiar names and faces from the Italian cinema. Marietto himself garnered his share Of fame as a child actor, appearing in several Hollywood productions shot in Italy and playing opposite the likes Of Clark Gable, Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston. Cabriele Ferzetti, cast as Andrea, the ballerina’s gruff, short-tempered associate, has for decades lent sturdy support to a wide variety Of films. Finally Vittorio De Sica, the legendary Neo-Realist director who two decades before commencing his career behind the camera was one Of Italy’s leading matinee idols, pops up in a trio Of small but important disguises: a sympathetic policeman; a harried messenger; and a philosophical taxi driver. All three have a most surprising alter ego. Dubbed in English. 89 minutes. Drama