Known as "Avanspettacolo" ...these were theatre groups touring Italy, in the 1930's and 40's , which provided slapstick comedy,singers and always,always....semi clad young women dancers !!(See my comment on "Gastone" with Alberto Sordi about "avanspettacolo" shows ).
It was formula which was very successfull , it was cheap, and usually a film was projected afterwards !! It was the only entertainment for the Italian masses before the advent of television,( which degraded enertainment to new levels of baseness and stupidity !!See the film of Fedrico Fellini "Ginger and Roger" were TV shows were portrayed in all their shallowness).
In this film, instead of showing the theatre group working in Rome, it shows their life when on the move, where they meet all sorts of crazy provincial types, excited about the arrival of this travelling theatre circus, but because of their provincial simplicity, create hiliarious situations and misunderstandings for the more "sophisticated" artists !!
It is a funny film at times, but it's more interesting in it's
portrayal of life "in the old times that never come back",the poverty,the honesty,the humbleness and simplicity of Italians of another epoch !! A 7 vote.
It was formula which was very successfull , it was cheap, and usually a film was projected afterwards !! It was the only entertainment for the Italian masses before the advent of television,( which degraded enertainment to new levels of baseness and stupidity !!See the film of Fedrico Fellini "Ginger and Roger" were TV shows were portrayed in all their shallowness).
In this film, instead of showing the theatre group working in Rome, it shows their life when on the move, where they meet all sorts of crazy provincial types, excited about the arrival of this travelling theatre circus, but because of their provincial simplicity, create hiliarious situations and misunderstandings for the more "sophisticated" artists !!
It is a funny film at times, but it's more interesting in it's
portrayal of life "in the old times that never come back",the poverty,the honesty,the humbleness and simplicity of Italians of another epoch !! A 7 vote.