Four Ways Out; La Citta Si Difende

1743. FOUR WAYS OUT (La Citta Si Difende) (1951-Italy). With Gina LOLLOBRIGIDA. Original story and script co-authored by FEDERICO FELLINI. This stark, gritty drama opens with a robbery of the gate receipts at a soccer stadium. It’s committed by a group of diverse, desperate individuals in broad daylight, as thousands are cheering the match. The police doggedly pursue their investigation, but to no avail. The scenario chronicles the plight of the thieves, who at first go into hiding separately. The most intriguing of them are a pair of opposites: an embitÂtered ex-soccer star with a volatile temper whose career was prematurely ended by injury; and a troubled husband and father driven to crime out of his Inability to feed his family. The ample-chested Gina Lollobrigida, then well on her way to becoming one of Europe’s top movie personalities, is cast as the glamorous, vampish Daniela, whose presence and actions are crucial to the story. Primarily, however, the film focuses on the culprits and their contrasting personalities, motives and fates. The film most deservedly earned the Best Italian Film prize at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. Dubbed into English. 74 minutes. Crime-Mystery-Suspense